


VICE VERSA

by later2nite



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-12
Updated: 2012-06-06
Packaged: 2017-11-05 05:22:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 42,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/402882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/later2nite/pseuds/later2nite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><div class="center">
  <p>Justin and Daphne are on the brink of becoming parents when Brian enters the picture: an angst-free little AU, comprised of equal parts canon and non-canon. How many twists can you spot, accounting for the title?</p>
</div>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Techgirl for rising above and beyond the call of a normal beta, without whose help this fic would literally not have been possible, and whose porny brain rescued it from dullness in several instances!

[ ](http://s1121.photobucket.com/albums/l502/later2nite/?action=view&current=LindasBanner2.jpg)

(banner by britinkinlor on LJ)

VICE VERSA - CHAPTER ONE

 

"I need to get fucked. I've figured out what my problem is, and I need to get fucked." Quietly stating the obvious, Justin takes a long drag on his Marlboro.

Daphne contorts one side of her face and raises an eyebrow, waiting for the rest.

"I couldn't even sketch a simple still life yesterday. I've been bottled up for a week. If I got fucked, it would unblock me. You know what I mean?"

"I guess." She reaches for his cigarette out of habit. "But, um, who?"

"That's just it. Tyler doesn't fit the bill. Neither does Jake. I need someone who is . . ."

"Perfect for you? Good luck with that!" Daphne laughs and tries for his smoke again. "Where do you even begin to look?"

"I'm not giving you this cigarette, Daph. You know it's not good for the baby if you smoke. You've made it eight and a half months already. A little longer won't kill you." 

She lets out a long sigh. "I know. You're gonna be a great dad."

"I'd be a better one if I could just get fucked." Justin mashes the butt into the ashtray that Mrs. Chanders keeps out on the back deck for him.

"Oh, shit!" Daphne bolts out of her lawn chair. "I'm gonna throw up!" Running inside, with Justin hot on her heels, she makes it just in time to hunch over the toilet before losing her dinner.

Justin holds her hair back out of the way, wishing he could do more. "You shouldn't still be getting sick like this." He douses a facecloth with cool water and gives it to her. Then he takes her hand and walks them into her bedroom. "Let's sit in your beanbag chair. Remember when we used to solve the world's problems every day after school in this thing?" He helps Daphne down onto their trusty old friend, sinking in beside her.

"We were a lot smaller then. I was, at least."

"We still fit. Look." Leaning against her shoulder, Justin places an open hand on her stomach, hoping to feel the baby kick. "Seriously, Daph," he brings up the needing to get fucked thing again. "I've been thinking about it for a long time, and I really want to check out Liberty Avenue. It's like there's this whole other world going on down there. When we watch the Pride parade on TV every year, it makes me want to see it firsthand."

Daphne's eyes get round as saucers. "Some of the guys in those parades seem so weird. Aren't you scared?"

"A little. But I'll never forget the way you looked that morning after we did it. You were glowing, Daph. All over. You were somehow . . . different." Justin makes small circles with his hand and then moves it to the other side of her tummy. "I want to feel like that."

"But when?"

"Tonight!" He improvises on the spot. "Maybe after your queasiness settles down you can give me a ride. I'll just take the bus back. Leave your window open, and I'll climb up to the tree house and in from there. What do you think?"

"Yeah, we can do that. If you're sure. This is a big step, Justin."

"I'm sure. It's time for me to get fucked. Oh! There it is! The baby kicked!"

Daphne giggles, grasping Justin's hand with both of hers. "Help me up. Let's stop for ice cream cones on the way!"

\----------------------

His face is the most beautiful thing Brian's ever seen, at least during the past hour. Beautiful enough, in fact, to (minimum) require up close and personal scrutiny and possibly (best case scenario) total redirection of the evening's plans. Sunshine colored hair, cropped closely into the private school cut, is one of the first details to capture Brian's imagination when he leaves Michael and the guys out in front of Babylon and crosses the street to get a better look. With the unmistakable scent of fresh meat drawing him near, he drinks in soulful eyes, flawless skin, and a mouth that begs to be kissed. "Where're you headed?" 

"No place special."

"I can change that." Brian's lips fold inward against each other, his light brown eyes growing wide with invitation. He doesn't look twenty-nine. Tall and thin, magnificently wrapped in a tight black tee shirt and jeans, he obviously works out.

Justin peers up into his handsome face, silently accepting the offer. The fact that Brian's never seen him before is the deal sealer. Brian always gets the hottest guys. Once.

"Come on, Brian!" Michael yells out from the other side of the street. "We're going!"

If there's one thing in all the world Michael absolutely hates, it's being ignored by Brian.

\----------------------

"Your friends look pretty upset. You're just gonna leave them there? Brian, is it?"

Brian's Jeep lurches forward when he throws it into gear, jarring his new friend in the passenger seat. "Yes, it's Brian. Brian Kinney. And you are?"

"Justin Taylor."

"Well, Justin Taylor, I can see those guys anytime. Right now, I'd rather see you." Brian's lips fold together again and then part into a magical smile, defined by his crooked upper left incisor. "You wanna come home with me, don't you?"

Justin returns the smile with megawattage of his own. "I'm going with you."

"Good."

"Good."

\---------------------

Brian's elegantly appointed sixth floor loft is the perfect spot for Justin to lose his virginity. Not that location plays any significant role. He would have followed him anywhere, certain the instant he gazed into Brian's eyes that he'd found what he was looking for. The attraction was immediate and intense.

Now Justin stands staring at a leggy, unclad god with outstretched arms, who wants to know if he’s coming or going. Going is definitely out of the question. The other option seems to be the only choice as Brian stays motionless, waiting for the boy in the trance to come to him. It works like a charm. As if under a spell, Justin floats toward Brian, their eyes drawing them together with magnetic power. 

Keeping just seconds away from the first kiss until anticipation reaches fever pitch, Brian lightly presses his lips against Justin's and then separates from them ever so briefly before doing it again. He's not going slowly because the fledgling's never been kissed. He's going slowly because that's how he kisses. It's one of his greatest pleasures.

Justin feels himself being taken over by a previously dormant force of nature that's suddenly barreling out of control. It's the most natural move he's ever made when he raises his arms and winds them around Brian's neck. He doesn't know what he's doing, but he's doing everything right. Brian's the reason he was put on this earth. Brian's the reason he's alive.

"So, what do you like to do?" that justification for existence asks, steering Justin onto his bed and helping him out of his clothes.

"Do? I don't know. Watch TV. Play Tomb Raider . . ."

Brian can't help but laugh. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen, next month."

"Have you ever done this before?"

"Um, well, not exactly."

"Maybe I should take you back to where I found you. Your mom's probably worried sick about you."

Justin's cock is what's worried sick. Worried sick it won't get any attention. And then there's his virgin asshole, still forlornly and unacceptably empty. Always priding himself on being a quick study, he pulls Brian in for more kissing, all too happy to learn how the French do it.

"Put your legs up on my shoulders. That's it." Face-to-face first time. It's Brian's gift to the boy, just for being so beautiful. Taking his time with preparation, he lubes and carefully fingers Justin's warm, taut hole, gradually coaxing it open. Brian grabs a condom from the bedside table and has Justin put it on his rock-hard cock, pre-come already bubbling out of his slit. Safely ensheathed, he gingerly inches inside, beginning a gentle friction. 

Welcoming the fiery fullness, Justin exhales a breath he didn't even realize he was holding, the initially painful stretch starting to feel good when the tip of Brian's cock jabs his prostate. Rapidly discovering an itch only Brian can scratch, something primal demands that he yank Brian's body closer on every thrust. _Don't stop. Please, don't ever stop!_ The words whirl round and round in Justin's head when Brian's pace speeds up, his dick ultimately exploding in electrifying jolts. Rivers of hot sperm sprinkle his chest while his hole clenches in spasms. 

"Christ! Aahh, shit!" Brian pumps one last time into the vise grip otherwise known as Justin's ass, coming so hard he nearly passes out. "Jesus!" He crumples down onto Justin. "You're so goddamned tight!" 

Instinctively, a triumphant Justin takes this as the compliment it's meant to be. So that's what it feels like to get fucked. When can he do it again?

\---------------------

Morning arrives much too soon, barging in like an unwanted visitor with the six a.m. electronic beep on Brian's nightstand. Moments later, his eyelids slowly peeling open, he struggles to focus on one hell of a good-looking youngster in his bed with him, complete with an accompanying seventeen-year-old arm resting across his back. Highly unusual, as his policy after entertaining is to kick the guest out and wake up alone. The guest is about to be escorted off of Cloud Nine. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"You said I could stay."

"Right. Your mom thinks you're at a friend's." Recreational drugs are a bitch the next morning. The fog should start to lift soon. "What's your name again?"

"Justin." Justin's infatuation with Brian is bigger than his disappointment. "Can I take a shower?" 

"Yeah. It's through there." Brian points in the general direction where it should be. He stumbles out of bed toward the kitchen, the welcome aroma of freshly brewed Colombian coffee beans conspicuously nonexistent. Shit! That's what happens when you don't flip the button the night before. Dragging his ass back up the steps to his bathroom, a stunning image of soaking wet milky white nakedness is all the stimulant he needs. This might shape up into a good morning after all. "One more time, your name?" he inquires, joining Blondie under the spray. 

"Justin."

"Justin." Brian rolls the name off his tongue, his brain starting to hurt a whole lot less when he squeezes a glob of expensive shampoo into his palm and massages the boy's scalp with it.

"Mmmm. That feels really good. You have a really nice place here. I'm really glad you found me under that streetlight last night. I really-"

"Fuck! How many times can you say really in ten seconds?" Brian's brain hurt threatens to make a comeback. Big-time. It's unfathomable to him that they've been standing under the steady pelt of hot water together for five entire minutes and all they've done is talk. Ready to do more than talk, he whisks Justin around to face the shower door. 

Smushed up against the glass, the sensation of being prepared by Brian's long soapy fingers sends Justin effectively out of his mind. 

Fucking the youngest, tightest, most curvaceous ass Brian's ever been in catapults him in the same direction.

\---------------------

"When can I see you again?" Justin's not about to walk away from Brian's Jeep until he's certain there'll be a next time. Lingering in front of his high school with a crowd of gawking classmates looking on, the only thing that matters is being with Brian again.

A hint of a smile forms on the fashion model-esque ad executive's face. Brian does more for a good suit than any ad campaign ever could. "You can see me right now." 

"I mean later . . . tonight!" 

"Who knows where I'll be . . . later tonight."

"Please?" Justin craves the taste of Brian's tongue in his mouth once more. He's never wanted anything so badly in his life. 

The hint of Brian's smile grows. He's not kidding when he says, "I'll see you in your dreams."

Justin's face falls at the thought of being a one-night stand. Brian has no intention of seeing him again. Left standing in the middle of the street, he watches the Jeep fade away, marooning him with nothing more than a vivid memory. How can the most beautiful thing that's ever happened to him be driving away?

"Where have you been? You said you were going to climb back in through the window. Your mom called. I didn't know what to tell her." Daphne, Justin's best friend since fifth grade, had worried about him all night. 

In all actuality, best friend doesn't begin to cover it. What do you call a friend for whom you'd do absolutely anything? The kind of friend who isn't even fazed when you confide your proclivity to lurk in the showers after P.E. to scope out cock because - and you've never breathed a word of this to another living soul - you think you may be, might be, possibly . . . GAY? The kind of friend who isn't embarrassed in the slightest when she requests the presence of your dick into her vagina because, well, she needs to know what it's all about, and who better to experiment with? 

Daphne hands Justin his backpack and says she told his mom he was still asleep, neither of their mothers ever suspecting, until receiving confirmation seven months prior, that harmless sleepovers between best friends since fifth grade (isn't it cute?) could ever result in . . . whoops!

"I just saw the face of God." Justin looks fondly down the street where God just drove away. "His name is Brian Kinney."

"Huh?" 

"I'll tell you all about it at lunch. How's the morning sickness today?" He holds St. James Academy's door open for her and quickly follows her in. 

Daphne snakes an arm around Justin's waist, offering up her own backpack with her other hand when he reaches for it. "It's hell. I can't believe women willfully put themselves through this." 

"Aww, my little incubator." He plants a kiss on her forehead.

"Excuse me? Incubate this!" Daphne pushes Justin's face away, but not before kissing his lips in sworn solidarity. The life inside her quickens as if to acknowledge its daddy, Daphne calming herself yet again with the image of them living in their own apartment, raising their offspring together.

Hey! It could happen! Justin promised her! As soon as they turn eighteen, which will be within two weeks of each other and exactly one week and three weeks after graduation, respectively, they'll move into a great place, courtesy of the sizable inheritance left to him by his alcoholic grandmother. 

"I thought that was in a trust fund you couldn't touch!" she'd disputed, still pretty much in shock over the plastic test strip in her hand, its two blue lines glaring up at her.

"I gain full access to it on my eighteenth birthday. Daphne, we can do this!" 

His beaming face was difficult to dismiss. 'Kill Me Now' had gradually given way to 'We're Gonna Be Parents' at his loving insistence, every argument she put forth to the contrary met with vehement opposition by her cohort in crime.

"Daphne." Justin took her hands in his. "I'll always love you. You know that, right?" 

She remembers how she nodded, feeling herself acquiesce. 

"I'll take care of you," he vowed. "And the baby. You'll never have to worry."

Daphne walks into Homeroom beside Justin just before the final bell, her faith in him never stronger.

"Hey, Taylor!" Chris Hobbs shouts from a desk in the back. "Get any last night?"

Wanton snickers emanate from the likes of stupid teenage girls, Daphne tightening her long sweater around her midsection.

Grinning like a loon, Justin still feels Brian's cock in his ass and tastes Brian's sweet mouth on his. "Fuck, yeah!" 

If only these walls could talk. 

\----------

"I come all the way down here to see him, and he doesn't want anything to do with me."

"The thing you have to know about Brian is that he doesn't do boyfriends." Michael's useful information is the voice of experience talking, he and Justin sitting at the Liberty Diner's snack bar scarfing down their bacon cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes. Waiting for the kid to predictably show up on the exact corner where Brian found him the night before, Michael had hauled him off with the lure of greasy food and an agenda that's certain to jettison his pesky ass back to the suburbs where it belongs.

"You weren't there with us last night. You don't know what we did . . . the way he kissed me . . ."

Michael's perturbed that Brian makes the messes and he cleans them up. He's thinking of charging extra for babysitting. "Listen. Brian's fucking selfish. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. If I were you, I'd just forget him." There. It's out in the open, and he's not lying about any of it.

 _Great advice,_ Debbie thinks, not that she's eavesdropping or anything. _Too bad you can't take it yourself._ Slinging hash at the Liberty Diner keeps Michael's mom up on all the latest drama.

Michael and Justin finish eating, pay, and walk out of the diner. Michael would like to drive him far, far away. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, thanks. I borrowed a friend's car."

"What? You don't have a little Beemer of your own?" Michael tries to keep the snark out of his tone. Well, most of it anyway.

Justin calculates how much longer till his birthday in his head. "I'm working on it," he tells Brian's best friend. He receives one last precious gem before he climbs into Daphne's car.

"And don't go looking for him either. It'll just make things worse." Michael only hopes Justin will take heed. If he never sees the little fucker again, it'll be too soon.

Justin pulls away and drives straight to Brian's loft.

\---------------------

"Leave him alone. He's alright. In fact, he's kind of sweet." Brian doesn't understand why Michael's so upset.

"Look at him. Following us in here. He's like our teen stalker or something." Michael had been banking on Justin doing a disappearing act after their little chat the previous night, but . . . no such luck. There he is, all blond and smiling at the end of the bar, eyeing Brian like a hawk. "We can't even unwind in Woody's without him lurking around." 

Brian's on to the next subject. Namely, the guy across the room in the shiny shirt, currently giving him the eye. "Well, I know who I'm doing tonight, Mikey. How about you? See anybody you like?" He drains the last of his beer bottle in one long swig and gets ready to go.

"No, Brian. I can't just give some guy the secret sign, knowing he’ll blow me out in the alley in ten minutes." 

"What's up with you?" Brian pulls a couple of bills out of his wallet and throws them onto the bar. "Come on. He's leaving."

Michael stifles the protest forming in his gut. He can't remember a time when he hasn't been Brian's one-man audience for the nightly pick up show. Oh, yeah. That week he was home with the flu. Following Brian out of Woody's, Michael remembers he really doesn't have anything better to do anyway. "Let's go to Babylon!" He grabs Brian's arm, all traces of hostility vanished just as rapidly as they’d surfaced. "I think Ted and Emmett are going tonight."

"Because we all know I go there to fraternize with you boys." Brian tails Shiny Shirt Guy down the street and, as luck would have it, into Babylon. He grins at Michael and grabs a cigarette from his shirt pocket. "This won't take long."

\------------------

Sighting his target on the dance floor, Brian sidles up to him, whispers in his ear once, and it's a done deal. 

Michael takes it all in from the sidelines - yet again. Let the show begin.

Justin hadn't been far behind Brian and Michael on the short walk to the club. From his vantage point, everything is crystal clear. The St. James Academy honor student doesn't need a road map. One trick after another, an endless stream of meaningless encounters, is Brian's M.O. 

"I don't believe in love. I believe in fucking," he'd flat out said when Justin left the diner and drove to his loft in hopes of a repeat performance, turning him away at the door after explaining in no uncertain terms that it would never happen. 

Justin glares out onto Babylon's dance floor and watches Brian hold court. Apparently, Shiny Shirt Guy won't be enough for him. Justin gapes in disbelief as Brian signals to a second trick, who promptly dances himself right over. For Michael, this is a new twist in viewing the Brian's Nightly Prey show. For Justin, it's suffocating. He can feel his throat closing up.

"You're not exactly a troll, you know," Daphne had said that morning when Justin told her about Brian's rejection. "You can get any guy you want. You should pick up the cutest one you can find while that cocksucker watches. Make him jealous." 

Justin had laughed in her face. "He won't even care. He's had me. I'm not a challenge anymore." 

Now he thinks that plan doesn't sound half bad. Without much forethought, Justin walks into the crowd of dancing boys and men, the glitter raining down from the rafters clinging to his bare upper body when he slips out of his shirt along the way. Stopping in front of the ménage a trois-to-be, he shakes his ass in time to the thumping beat, eyes intentionally cast off into the distance.

Brian doesn't notice him at first, preoccupied with his impending orgy. Within minutes, though, what happens next astounds them both, Justin proving himself impossible to ignore. When first one and then the other of Brian's tricks gravitates toward him, Justin finds himself sandwiched between Hot and Hotter, the one behind him running his palms up and down Justin's arms and the one facing him pawing his smooth, pale, teenage chest. 

Not losing his cool, it doesn't bother Brian at all that his two handpicked trophies prefer Justin. Glancing at them with their hands all over the boy, he silently bids them farewell. He knows something they don't know.

Justin just keeps dancing. His scheme lacks an ending. 

Fortunately, Brian's specialty is manipulating every situation into the outcome he wants it to have. This is going to be so easy. _You two clowns think he wants you? Watch this._ Repelling them out of his way, he steps in front of Justin and locks eyes with him, their silent communication deafening. _It's me you want, right?_

Justin's face comes alive. _You're all I dream about._ Throwing his arms around Brian's neck, their crotches press together while Brian loses himself in his new favorite pastime: making out with Justin Taylor.

Michael wants to cry, the gnarling in the pit of his stomach expanding by the minute. He's watched his oldest and dearest friend chase - and catch - every hot guy in Pittsburgh since they were fourteen years old, always wishing he'd be next. And this isn't how Brian does it. Michael feels physically ill as any glimmer of hope he's ever had with Brian disintegrates before his very eyes. Where did this fucking kid come from anyway?

Sparkling with fallen glitter, the chemistry between Brian and Justin is undeniable. A white-hot heat sizzles from their bodies on the dance floor, Michael fleeing the club in dismay.

\---------------------

Brian takes his prize home with him again, stripping as soon as he enters his loft and gluing his lips to Justin's as he drags him up to the bedroom. "I'm gonna fuck the shit out of you, just so you know," he clarifies his immediate plans.

"Promise?" A bundle of urgent need, Justin rips off his clothes and exposes his bobbing dick. Sinking into Brian's bed, he draws him in like a moth to a flame. 

"Have you ever been sucked?" Brian clasps Justin's thick pink shaft, slowly kneading it stiff. "I'm going to show you what I like." Tonguing the tip of Justin's cock, he licks the pre-come out of his slit before he swallows him whole, bringing him to the brink of relief several times before finally sucking him off.

Justin writhes with pleasure, soon feeling his come boiling in his balls. He moans a warning of its inevitable escape, unable to stop himself from jerking his hips and shooting strings of hot white liquid down Brian's throat. Lost somewhere in the stratosphere, his breath heaves in and out while Brian drinks him dry, prolonging his orgasm. 

"Your first blow job." Brian beams, prouder of himself than he'd like to admit.

"I can see why you like that." Justin wraps his arms around Brian's chest and holds him close. "Are you gonna fuck me now?" 

"Hell, yes!" Brian laughs, not fully understanding why he's in no hurry to free himself from Justin's embrace. _What the fuck am I doing?_ he wonders. _Roll him over. Fuck him all night long._ Relieved to find himself nudging Justin onto his stomach, he kneels at his side and brushes his fingers against Justin's mouth. "Open up. Make them wet."

Justin sucks on each one, groaning in anticipation. "Fuck me," he begs, rocking back and forth while Brian plays with his crack. 

"I will, but I want you ready for me." Brian works his moist pinkie between the most perfect ass cheeks he's ever seen, slowly penetrating Justin's hole. 

Hard once more and insanely horny, Justin gnashes the front of his body around on the mattress.

"Stop. I want you to come with me inside you."

"I can't do that until you fuck me!" 

Brian laughs again and rolls a condom onto his leaking dick. "You’re so fucking hot, I'm not gonna last." Literally not believing what he's just said, he asks himself what the hell he thinks he's doing, noting that it's the second time the question's come up in the last thirty minutes. But when Justin rises to his knees and rears backward into his cock, Brian glides inside his tight little hole and everything's instantly right with the world. Fucking Justin is all that matters. Fucking Justin is all that will ever matter, Brian suspects. 

Panting with desire, Justin rams his prostate gland into the swelled head of Brian's dick over and over. Turns out he's the one who won't last, soaking Brian's sheets in a matter of minutes. 

Brian pounds into Justin's ass one last time before he pulls out and quickly removes the condom, shuddering through his orgasm while long ropes of semen land on Justin's back. 

"I came all over your bed." A sheepish Justin twists around and looks Brian in the eye.

"I came all over you." Brian doesn't remember ever marking a trick before. What is it about this kid? Grinning madly, the sound of an unfamiliar ring tone interrupts his fantasy of what he'd like to do to Justin next.

"That's my phone." 

"Don't answer it."

Already out of bed, Justin gets his jeans from the floor and rummages through the pockets. "I have to. It might be important."

"What could be more important than my- ?" 

"Hello? Mrs. Chanders?" 

Curtly cut off, Brian has no choice but to listen to the one-sided conversation. He feels slightly affronted until it becomes clear there's some sort of emergency in Justin's life.

"You're at the hospital now? Oh, my God! Is Daphne all right?" Justin picks up the rest of his clothes and rushes to dress himself with one hand. "No, that's okay. It'll be faster if I take a cab. Have my mom stay there with you and Daphne."

Brian's disappointed to see Justin's spectacular ass disappear into his boxer briefs. Finding his own jeans and shirt scattered on the sofa, he comes back to the bedroom and puts them on. "I'll drive you," he mouths to his jittery boy.

"Tell Daphne I'll be there in twenty minutes. I know she's counting on me. Yes . . . Okay . . . Bye, Mrs. Chanders." Justin responds to the bewildered look on Brian's face by throwing a quick kiss onto his lips. "I'll catch you up in the car! Run!"

\----------------------

"I'm driving as fast as I can. Try to calm the fuck down." Brian appreciates Justin's need for speed, but, by the same token, doesn't want to wake up dead.

"I know. It's just that I'm kinda freaking out here!" Justin lights a cigarette with visibly shaky hands. "I can't believe it's finally happening. I'm gonna be a father! Shit! I need some cigars to pass out!"

Brian does a double take in Justin's direction, rubbing the palm of his hand over his chin. "You . . . you're gonna be a father? How in the fuck is that even possible?"

"You mean you were absent from Health class the day they covered reproduction? Well, when the male-"

"Smart-ass. I just never would have pegged you for a breeder, what with you begging me to fuck you and all. Oh, and I seem to recall the complete bliss on your face not more than an hour ago when your dick was crammed in my mouth." Brian stares at Justin with one eyebrow raised for as long as he can before he starts to worry about waking up dead again. 

"It's Daphne. We've been best friends since we were like ten. All the girls in our senior class have been ragging on her for a long time about still being a virgin, and she just got tired of it." Justin lights another cigarette with the end of his first one. "She held out on her boyfriend all year long because she was scared. At the end of last summer she was ready, but she'd broken up with him by then. She pleaded with me for weeks, finally convincing me to be her first time because she said I was the only guy she could trust."

"So . . . you're a breeder with closeted homo tendencies?" 

"Shit, no!" Justin shakes his head and laughs.

Brian thinks for a minute and then cracks a sly smile, as though he's just aced semester finals. "I get it. You're bi."

"Fuck, no! I knew I was gay when I was thirteen. Daphne was the first person I ever told. She looked at me like I'd just said I was going to buy new shoes, and then she asked what my mom was making for dinner because she was spending the night with me."

Turning into the hospital parking lot, Brian thinks he might finally understand. "So the gay boy fucks his best friend because she needs to be a woman, and the two of you have never heard of birth control?"

"The condom broke, okay?" Justin rips off his seat belt when Brian pulls into a parking space and stops short. "It was a total accident and I know we're young and everything but it's our baby and we’re moving into an apartment over on Spruce Street right after graduation and we're gonna raise him or her together." Coming up for air, he snuffs his cigarette out in the ashtray. "Daphne and I have loved each other for years. If I were straight, we'd be getting married. This baby is wanted and loved."

Brian kills the Jeep's engine, studying Justin in a whole new light. He wonders how he would have handled the situation if he'd given in to Lindsay’s request a few years back.

"Come on, Brian!" Justin jumps out and breaks into a sprint toward the hospital doors. "I'm gonna be a dad!"

\-----------------------

"Where's Justin?" Daphne cries, riding the crest of another agonizing contraction. "I thought you said you called him!"

Dorothy Chanders sighs and smooths the hair out of her daughter's eyes. "He's on his way, honey. Just breathe like you learned in Lamaze." 

"I need him!" Daphne bats the unwanted hand off her forehead. "I can't do this without him. Fuck! It hurts!" 

"Daphne, watch your mouth."

"Fuck you, Mom. Go get Justin."

Flabbergasted by the profanity pouring from her normally angelic daughter, Dorothy tries to make herself useful. "I’ll see if Jennifer's found him yet. She's waiting at the main entrance to bring him up here to the maternity ward."

"Hurry!" Daphne screams, on the verge of tears with a healthy dose of panic thrown in for good measure. "Oh, shit! Here comes another one!"

"Take it easy, Daph." Justin's voice is at once consoling and authoritative when he and his mom rush into the room just as Dorothy's about to exit. "Take deep breaths. Focus." Bounding to her bedside, he takes Daphne's hand and kisses her cheek. "That's it. Breathe out through your mouth. Remember how we practiced? Squeeze my hand at the height of the next contraction."

Impressed with Justin's ability to take charge, the mothers of the two teens watch Daphne start to relax.

"My water broke and I called you, but you didn't pick up. I'm still two weeks away from my due date, but I guess we'll just . . . Oh, God! Here it comes again!" Daphne grips Justin's hand, breathing through the pain.

"I'm here now. I was with a friend at a dance club. I guess I didn't hear my phone in my pocket." Justin conveniently omits the part about forgetting to check his messages because he needed to get fucked so badly. "I'm glad your mom called me again. How many centimeters are you dilated? Has Dr. Nelson checked you? Did you get the epidural yet?"

Daphne loosens her grasp on Justin's hand as the discomfort ebbs. "She said I was at seven centimeters a half an hour ago when she did the internal exam. The epidural is starting to wear off."

"That means you're in transition now. It won't be too much longer until you can push." Justin spoons a few ice chips into her mouth from the Styrofoam cup on the bedside table. "Do you still want me in the delivery room like we planned?"

"Hey, I'm not going in there alone! You better get into some scrubs."

"I'll track down a nurse to get them for me. Will you be all right for a little bit?" Justin leans down and kisses her forehead when she nods. Then he asks Mrs. Chanders if she can help Daphne through the next contraction.

"Justin, I've told you repeatedly to call me Dorothy." Daphne's mom regards him warmly, pulling him in for a hug.

"Oh, yeah . . . Sorry, Mrs. Chanders." He hugs her back before he dashes out in search of suitable delivery room attire.

Stunned at the maturity they've just witnessed, the grandmothers-to-be share a knowing glance. Maybe their grandchild will be in good hands after all. 

"He must have been paying attention in all those birthing classes you guys went to," Jennifer tells Daph.

Dorothy laughs. "Justin certainly has grown up this year!" 

\----------------------

"Sorry you got roped into this." Justin finds Brian in a waiting room at the end of the hallway.

Brian reaches out and embraces him before he has time to stop himself. It just feels like the right thing to do. "Guess I'm caught up in all the excitement. Mind if I stick around?"

"You can be one of the first people to see my kid after it's born!" 

Brian tries to kiss the ear-to-ear grin right off of Justin's face. That just feels right, too. Ignoring an elderly couple sitting in the corner who suddenly remember a place they need to be that isn't there, Brian tips his forehead down to rest on Justin's. "I'll just hang out in here and wait for you." 

"Daphne's in the last stages of labor now, so she'll be moved to delivery pretty soon. The baby should be here before morning."

Brian walks over to the vending machine and selects a bottle of water. "You sure have all the lingo down. Sounds like you know what you're talking about or something."

"I've gone with Daphne to all of her prenatal care appointments, and we’ve been going to Lamaze classes for the last six weeks. She still sorta flips out every time she thinks about actually giving birth, though, so I can't wimp out on her." Checking the time, Justin realizes he's been out of her room for eight minutes, and he still has to change and sterilize his hands.

"Okay, Dad. Go have your baby, and then come back and tell me if it's a boy or a girl." Brian gives him a peck on the forehead, sending him off to wherever it is that babies are born.

"Brian?" Justin turns around on his way out of the waiting room. "Thanks for being here with me."


	2. Chapter 2

[ ](http://s1121.photobucket.com/albums/l502/later2nite/?action=view&current=LindasBanner2.jpg)

(banner by britinkinlor)

VICE VERSA - CHAPTER TWO

"Isn't she lovely?"

Baby Girl Taylor's father and grandmothers watch her squirm in her plastic bassinet through the nursery window. Swaddled in pink, the tiny thing isn't exactly crying, but she's not entirely happy either.

Jennifer turns to Justin, a bit worried. "I hope she won't be a fussy newborn like you were. You always wanted to be held."

"Then we'll hold her!" Justin laughs, his jubilant mood not about to be squelched by a baby, _his baby,_ who might want to be held. "I'll be right back. I want a friend of mine to see her."

Jennifer recalls the handsome guy who'd driven Justin to the hospital and come in with him. She assumed he'd left hours ago.

"Our kids have created a gorgeous baby." Dorothy brings Jennifer's thoughts back to her granddaughter, whose vocal cords are now working quite well. 

"They certainly have. Five pounds, two ounces of pure joy!" Jennifer admires the baby's amber colored skin, indicative of both her biracial mother and uncommonly fair father, coupled with fine wisps of golden hair, obviously inherited from her own Scandinavian roots. At one hour old, anyone can see that she'll blossom into a pretty little girl who'll turn heads wherever she goes.

"Mom, Mrs. Cha- I mean Dorothy, this is my friend Brian." 

"Nice to meet both of you." Brian shakes hands with them before Justin pulls him up to the window and points to the wailing Baby Girl Taylor.

"There she is! There's my daughter!"

The four of them watch how quickly the baby quiets down when a nurse gently lifts her out of the bassinet and soothes her cries.

"A drama queen already!" Brian turns to Justin and smiles. "But a beautiful one."

The child's grandmothers think Justin's new friend can stay. Evidently, he has impeccable taste when it comes to babies.

Justin checks the time. "I'm going to see how Daphne's doing. If she's up to it, I'll bring her out here." In a matter of minutes, he wheels an elated, albeit exhausted, new mother toward them. "Daph, this is Brian. Brian, this is my best friend and the mother of my daughter, Daphne."

"Hi." Brian takes her hand and kisses the back of it.

Daphne giggles. "Justin, he's hot!"

Brian peeks through the window into the nursery again while laughter all around breaks the ice. "What's her name?"

Daphne glances at Justin. "Well, we were thinking of our grandmothers' names if we had a girl, but we thought we'd have a little more time to decide. She's two weeks early."

"Grandmother Melissa would be so proud if you named the baby after her!" Daphne's mom thanks God for sending her angelic daughter back. 

Jennifer thinks of her deceased mother and frowns. "I thought you didn't care for Grandma's name, Justin."

"I started liking it a whole lot more when I found out how much money she left me! Old alcoholic Victoria will never know how much that decision means to us."

Daphne's grateful, too. "We'll be able to rent the largest unit in the Spruce Street Arms, thanks to her generosity. I can't wait to move in there and get settled!"

Brian takes one more look at the infant on the other side of the glass and smiles again. "Melissa Victoria Taylor. You could call her Missy."

\----------------------

"Brian?! Brian, where are you?!" Michael pounds on the loft door like a madman, grimace firmly in place when Brian finally slides it open. 

"Oh. Hi, Mikey." He clearly wishes it were someone else standing there. "What's the problem?"

"Problem? What's the problem? Where in the fuck have you been? That's the problem!" Michael storms into Brian's kitchen and throws his car keys onto the breakfast bar. "Why don't you roll us a joint? Let's get high."

"I don't have any weed. I gave all my stash to Ted and Emmett." Brian pours himself a scotch and prepares for the rant that's sure to come. "You want a beer?" He knows Michael doesn't drink hard liquor. Give him a six-pack, though, and he's set.

"You gave your stash away?!" Michael pops the top of the can Brian lobs to him and gulps some down. "What the fuck did you do that for?"

"I need to grow up."

"You need to grow up?! Then why have you been looking for that stupid blond twink everywhere?"

"Come on, Mikey. No need for name calling." Brian wonders if Michael's already had a six-pack. He usually puts much more effort into concealing his resentment.

"What about last night? We always party at Babylon on Friday nights, but how long did you stay? Twenty-two minutes. And what did you do during those twenty-two minutes?"

"I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"You snapped your head toward the door every time someone came in, you only had one shot of Beam, and you turned down four blow jobs and three asses to fuck." Michael swipes his hand through his hair. "And what about the night before that?"

"What about it?"

"We've been meeting in Woody's after work for years so you can plow any lucky bastard from behind you want, but all of a sudden, no one looks good enough for you to fuck anymore. And do you know how many games of pool you've lost to me - ME! - during the last two weeks?"

Brian shrugs. "No, I haven't been keeping track."

"Eight! I've won eight times! And Marco's totally pissed about the felt on the corner table. I've never seen you scratch like that. Ever!"

"I've got a lot on my mind, Mikey, okay?" Brian refills his drink and steals a peek at the time. Almost nine forty-five. He slips into his shoes and puts his wallet in his pocket.

"And don't think I haven't noticed you cruising that fucking streetlight every night at ten o'clock! Do you think he's gonna show up some night at the same time you met him, under the same lamppost, just to be all romantic or something?"

The thought _has_ crossed Brian's mind. 

Exasperation oozes from Michael's pores. "Well?" 

"Did he happen to give you his phone number or tell you where he lives?"

"Oh, my God, Brian!" Michael seriously considers some form of medical intervention. "Do you hear yourself? You don't smoke weed anymore, and you're completely smitten with a seventeen-year-old boy?! I can't believe you!"

"He's very mature for his age."

\-----------------------

"If you could sign here, sir, please."

Justin autographs the invoice and pays the movers in cash, he and Daphne, with Missy sound asleep in her arms, standing in their new living room taking it all in. "What do you think? After we get the boxes unpacked, will it feel like home?"

"Are you kidding? I'm so happy, Justin! This complex is the nicest one in Southern Hills, and it's just a few miles away from our parents. I love it!" Daphne shifts her month-old daughter up against her shoulder and walks over to the open area that's designed to be a small sitting room between the two master bedrooms. "This is perfect for her room. Can you find her cradle? She's starting to get heavy."

"Yeah, I'll look for it." Justin searches through the boxes marked BABY and comes back with the little bed. "Your mom got all teary eyed when they loaded up the crib. Did you see that? But last night she was telling your dad and me how to collapse it for easy moving and everything. I thought she was okay with us getting an apartment."

Daphne lays Missy in the cradle, where she stretches and yawns and promptly falls back to sleep. "My mom gets emotional sometimes. She's known about our plans from the beginning. With you sleeping there every night to help me with the baby, I think she just got really attached to our little family. She'll be all right."

"I hope so, 'cause when she hugged me good-bye, it felt like she'd never let go. For a minute there, I thought we were gonna have to live with your parents forever." Justin assembles Missy's changing table and is just about to unfold her full-sized crib when Dapne pulls him away from the alcove.

"Come on. Let's relax for awhile. You've been on your feet all day." She shoves a box full of her shoes on the sofa over to one side and plops down.

Justin puts the box on the floor and sits next to her. "God, it does feel good to rest. It seems like I've been running nonstop for a week." 

"That's because you _have_ been! I don't know how you managed to go home every day to pack all your stuff and then come back over to my house and pack up all my junk, too. Plus, you walked the floor every night with Missy when she cried." Daphne socks his arm lightly. "You're my superhero!"

Justin shrugs his shoulders. "Once school was over, it was easy. Hey, you forgot the part about me doing all your schoolwork for you while you nursed the baby. I'm just glad they allowed you to work from home during the last week of classes so you could still graduate."

"Yeah, it worked out well. If she just would have waited until her due date, none of that would have happened." Daphne considers all they've been through during the past month, coming to the conclusion that everything happens for a reason. "Actually, I'm glad she was early. That's why she was only like five pounds at birth. Any bigger than that, and I probably would have died!"

Justin leans over and kisses her cheek. "You're the one who's the superhero. Why don't you take a little nap here until she wakes up and you need to feed her again? I'll start putting some things away in the kitchen."

Daphne rests her head against the back of the sofa and closes her eyes. "I knew you were gonna be a good dad, Justin."

\-----------------------

"Cynthia?" Brian calls out to his personal assistant at Ryder Advertising when she passes his open doorway, waving her into his office.

"Morning, Brian." She sets an armful of client files down on his desk. 

Looking at them is what he'd like to do the least that day. He has other things on his mind. "I've been thinking about your niece. The one who's been here a few times in the afternoon in her school uniform."

Cynthia wrinkles up her forehead. What interest could Brian possibly have in her brother's daughter, who periodically shadows her at work for an academic project she's working on? "Christy? Why are you thinking about her?"

"The uniform. Isn't it from that private high school over in Southern Hills?" Brian knows full well that it is. He's discreetly cased the front of the suburban school numerous times, driving by at dismissal time to comb the faces of the teenagers who pile out of its doors every afternoon at two-fifteen. But Cynthia doesn't need to know that. Christ! He hopes no one's onto the fact that he takes his lunch hour so late and stays away from the office so long. 

"St. James Academy? Why are you thinking about that? Brian, you know you're up for Ad Person of the Year this year. I thought we were going to brainstorm on the Old Pitt Beer campaign so you can blow Ryder away with your outstanding creativity."

"Yeah . . . about that. I can't do it today. I wanted to get a little something for your niece for her graduation. Oh, by the way, when is their graduation?" He wonders if Cynthia is buying any of this shit. Doesn't he make his living persuading people to buy shit? How simple things had been when his sole mission in life was fucking nameless ass on a daily basis. Now his days and nights are consumed with the constant search for Justin Taylor. How can a person vanish from the face of the earth so thoroughly?

"Brian, Christy's a sophomore. She won't graduate for awhile. What's all this interest in her about? You hardly ever speak to her when she's here." Cynthia starts to open one of the files she'd put on his desk, but he reaches for it, closes it back up, and returns it to the stack. "Why are you being so weird?" she can't help but ask.

"So they've already had their graduation?" He leans down and opens his bottom desk drawer, pretending to look for something work-related just to buffer some of the craziness out of the conversation. "How long ago was it?"

Cynthia suspects he hasn't had his triple latte yet. "I think Christy mentioned going to a couple of graduation parties about three weeks ago. Do you need me to make a run to Starbucks for you?"

"No, that's okay. Do you happen to know of any apartment complex out in Southern Hills that has some kind of tree in its name? Actually, I think I'll be gone for the rest of the day." Gathering up some things he could work on from home, he doesn't even know why he's bothering. There's no way he's going to get anything done. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Cynthia gets up to leave Brian's office, shaking her head. "Going shopping for graduation gifts?"

Well, that went swimmingly. Now not only Mikey but Cynthia also thinks he needs to have his head examined. Why hadn't he asked Justin for his number before he left the hospital? Or at least given him his own number? It must have been the fact that he'd gotten precious little sleep on that hard-backed chair in the waiting room the night the baby was born, his brain just not being in high gear during the wee hours of the morning when he'd finally said his good-byes after oohing and aahing over her with Justin and Daphne. 

Directory assistance had fifty-six Taylors listed, so tracking him down that way wasn't going to happen. Frequenting every neighborhood within a ten mile radius of Justin's high school proved to be futile, too. What was he expecting anyway? That he'd get lucky and just find him outside any one of the thousands of finely manicured homes he'd driven past during the last month? 

Sadly, that's exactly what he'd been hoping for. Pathetic!

Brian climbs into his Jeep, loosening his tie and flinging his suit jacket across the passenger seat onto his briefcase. With no real plan of action in mind, he only knows that staring at the four walls in his office and dreaming of nothing but Justin's beautiful face, Justin's hot, tight little ass, and the downy-smooth feel of Justin's skin is something he just can't spend one more day doing . . . or else he really will need to be committed to the nuthouse. 

Might as well set off on his routine pilgrimage to the suburbs. Desperate to locate his boy, Brian's mind wanders to the look in Justin's eyes when he'd claimed him for his own from those two tricks at Babylon. He's sure he's not imagining it. There was something more between them than just fantastic sex. At twenty-nine years old, he's never felt anything like this before, the idea of exploring its full potential something he's not willing to give up on.

Brian focuses on a street sign a few minutes later and realizes his Jeep has seemingly steered itself out into the rolling hills of Pittsburgh's country club set. Slowing down to take in the scenery, he curses the tree-lined boulevards that queue up before him like a maze, deliberately keeping him from his goal. 

And then he remembers! Trees! 

Which tree had Justin and Daphne cited in the name of their future home? Sycamore? Pine? Elm? With the graduation of St. James Academy's senior class three weeks earlier, Brian thinks they'd most likely be moved into their apartment by now. Why the fuck doesn't he know more names of trees? Why the fuck isn't Forestry a required class in obtaining an Advertising degree?

\-----------------------

"Daph?" Justin knocks on her half-closed bedroom door, waiting to be invited in. There isn't much they don't know about each other, and neither is particularly modest, but still, he respects her privacy and her space. "I just made some tuna salad if you want it. Are you finished feeding her?"

"Yeah. Come on in." Daphne's still adjusting herself back into her nursing bra and pulling her tee shirt down when Justin walks over to her bed to pick up the baby.

"I'll burp her while you eat. Do you have any spit-up towels in here? I just threw all the dirty ones I could find into the washer." 

She hands him the last clean burping rag off of her dresser and notices him staring at her chest with a goofy grin on his face. "What?" 

Justin thinks of the thin-as-a-rail best friend he used to have - the one with no bosom to speak of. "Those things are enormous!"

"I'm breast-feeding an infant, you idiot! Of course they're huge!" Daphne brings a bowl of tuna salad into the living room and sits on the sofa to eat while Justin settles into the rocking chair across from her and pats Missy's back. "I heard they go away after you stop breast-feeding, though, and you end up with less than you had before you got pregnant."

"That's too bad. How are you ever gonna get a man?" 

Daphne feigns outrage, giggling harder than Justin does. "Are you saying I don't have anything to offer in a relationship besides big boobs?"

"No. I'm just saying it'll really help!" 

"Oh, my God, Justin." Daphne laughs again. "I thought you didn't care about big boobs. On me or anybody else, for that matter." 

"Hey, I'm gay, not dead. I can appreciate physical attributes, male or female. And even though they do nothing for me, I can see how some guys would love to get lost in there." Justin smiles when Missy belches like a truck driver, propping her up on his shoulder and rocking her to sleep.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure they'll be long gone before I get hooked up with anyone. My priority right now is Missy." Daphne rinses her bowl in the kitchen sink and comes back with a can of Pepsi, lounging on the sofa again and turning on the TV. "What about you? Whatever happened to that guy who took your virginity and named our daughter?"

"Brian?" Justin thinks about his first crush. "I don't know. We didn't keep in touch. I haven't seen him since he left the hospital."

"He didn't even call you? That asshole." Daphne launches into another one of their famous marathon gabfests about the male species. The ones they've been having ever since they both discovered boys in the middle of seventh grade. She can't believe what a jerk Brian turned out to be. "He seemed like such a nice guy, too."

"I don't think I gave him my number. My brain was kind of on you and our newborn baby that morning at the hospital." Justin stands up with his sleeping daughter attached to the front of his body and walks to her room. He lays her in the crib and covers her with a fuzzy baby blanket before he goes back out and sees Daphne wiggling her feet into her sandals. 

She takes the mailbox key off its hook by the front door. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I'm gonna get the mail."

Justin grabs his sketch pad from the coffee table, soon absorbed in drawing Missy from one of the pictures he has of her on his phone. He doesn't even realize that Daphne's been gone longer than it takes to collect the mail as he busies himself with shading. That's when he hears voices approaching his door. Daph's and someone else's. Someone else who sounds sweetly familiar.

". . . and it was fucking Spruce!" Brian continues his report on the many different types of trees he's discovered, thanks to his iPhone, following Daphne in. "And when I finally remembered which apartments you guys had been talking about moving into, I found my way over here, and there you were out front at the mailboxes."

Justin's virtually paralyzed, sitting with his sketchbook and staring at Brian. Towering and tan, wearing Armani suit pants sans jacket with tie hanging loosely, he's just as stunning as he remembered him.

"Hey." Brian stops the tree nonsense when he spots Justin, his lips rolling inward against each other.

"Hey." 

Brian steps toward Justin with an outstretched arm and a look of relief in his eyes. "I thought I'd never find you again." He pulls Justin out of his chair and attempts to squeeze him to death. 

Justin hugs his captor, no words coming to him to express his surprise. That's okay, though. Words are not what Brian's after. Apparently it's his tonsils, Brian's tongue finding its way into his mouth like a homing device and tickling the back of his throat. He hasn't come in his pants since he was fifteen, but he thinks he just might when he feels Brian's lean thigh between his legs, pressing into his hardening dick. Justin could easily spend the rest of his life right there in Brian's arms with their bodies blended together if it weren't for Daphne, who's stammering out barely coherent phrases.

"Um . . . Uh . . . I'll just . . . I think I hear . . . I'll just check on the baby."

Brian's not sure how much longer he can wait to bury himself in Justin's ass. "Want to go get a drink?" He grins like a kid in a candy store.

"Sure!" Justin can't grab his cigarettes and keys fast enough. He tells Daph he'll be gone for awhile and to call if she needs him for anything, then he pulls Brian out the door. "That's my new car." He points to the blue Ford Explorer parked in the space designated for his apartment number. "I just bought it last week."

"Fuck! That's a nice ride for someone your age. Aren't most seventeen-year-olds driving compact hand-me-downs from their parents?"

"I turned eighteen last week and came into a large inheritance. We needed something big enough for all the baby stuff we're always carting around."

"Oh, yeah." Brian bends his mind around the reality of Justin's life. "It must be freaky to have a kid." He leans toward Justin's face and kisses him deeply after they climb into his Jeep, wondering how he'll survive the time it'll take to get somewhere and pound his ass into oblivion. A month is entirely too long to go without fucking anyone. But then again, just anyone isn't whom he's been waiting for. 

Brian paws at Justin's jeans. "These have to come off." Unzipping them, he wrestles with the offending denim and underwear until they bunch around Justin's knees. Then he unfastens his own suit pants and pushes them down, freeing his throbbing cock. He slides his seat back as far as it will go. "Straddle me." It isn't a question.

He finds a condom in his pocket and rolls it on while Justin strips below the waist and crawls into his lap. Spreading lube from the packet on Justin's ass, Brian circles a finger around his rim and eases it inside a few times to open him up.

"God, Brian!" Justin rises up on his knees, slowly lowering himself and taking Brian into his body. Gradually riding him faster and faster, the head of Brian's cock scrapes his prostate on every downstroke. He closes his eyes and thinks he might black out.

"You're still so tight. Been saving yourself for me?" Brian crushes their chests together and kisses his lips. "I could fuck you all day, Justin."

Inhaling sharply, the Jeep's leather interior scent drives Justin over the edge. "Leather makes me crazy," he confesses in a daze. "I'm gonna come."

"You're into leather?" Brian pumps harder. 

"Uh-huh. Oh, fuck!" Justin's dick erupts between them just before Brian shoots into the condom, their heartbeats slowing down to normal in a few minutes. 

"So you wouldn't mind being bound with my leather restraints?" 

Justin beams at Brian. "Tie me up!" Maneuvering into the passenger seat again, he starts to shinny back into his clothes. "About that drink . . .?"

"I'll take you to my favorite bar." Brian puts the used condom in the ashtray. Then he gets some napkins out of the glove compartment and cleans himself up. He can't help smiling when he wipes at the come stain Justin left on his shirt. 

Justin glances between Brian's legs and raises one eyebrow. "You're hard again. Can I blow you while you drive?"

Brian just knew there was a reason he'd scoured the city relentlessly for his boy!

\----------------------

Still not believing how perfectly the day has turned out, Brian orders two shots of J.B. for himself and a beer for each of them from Rick, the bartender he'd fucked in Babylon's back room a couple of months earlier. He'd been doubtful of ever seeing Justin again, but thanks to a little information on Cynthia's part and a little ingenuity on his own part, the stars seem to have lined up in his favor. 

"Here you go, Bri. Been to Babylon lately?" Rick sets the drinks on the bar. "My shift ends at midnight. Want to meet me there?"

Downing his two shots first, Brian tosses more than enough money to him. "My name's not Bri, and no, I don't want to meet you at Babylon tonight." 

"Okay. Maybe another time."

"Don't hold your breath," Brian mumbles, picking up his beers and heading back to the table. 

Shit! He's gone four minutes and Justin's attracting hordes of men. They've flocked to him like white on rice, every one of them dreaming of fucking his cute little ass. 

"Okay, boys, back off! He's mine." Brian hands Justin a Michelob and waits for the crowd to break up. Most of them move on with no hassle, but some of them need to be told more sternly, Justin grinning his head off the whole time. "That's not helping," Brian says, sitting back in his chair after practically kicking a stubborn mule in the shins who'd had the nerve to plop into the seat he'd vacated.

Justin takes a long drink. "What's not helping?" 

"That." Brian gestures toward his face. "Your smile. Your eyes. Your hair. Do you even know how beautiful you are? How absolutely stellar your ass is? I'm sure you've been hit on thousands of times."

Justin laughs, feeling himself blush. "There were only two other guys at St. James who were gay, and they weren't my type. Everyone else who ever gave me the eye was like old and gross. I stayed away from them."

"Ah. Avoidance." Brian's thankful for the concept and the fact that Justin's used it all his life. "So . . . you've never had a boyfriend? You really hadn't let anyone fuck you before that first time with me?" He wonders where the Brian Kinney who doesn't give a rat's ass about the life of any guy he fucks is hiding. The one who doesn't have a possessive bone in his body.

"Nope. Nobody before you." Justin pours more beer down his throat. "Not since then, either. I mean until today. In your Jeep. Brian, do you realize we did it in broad daylight in the parking lot where I live? I just moved in there! Anyone could have walked by!" 

"Fuck, that's what makes it hot!" Brian reaches for Justin's hand and pulls him forward until their lips meet in midair over the table, cupping his other hand around the back of Justin's neck. In broad daylight. With everyone walking by. 

That's what makes it hot!

"Oh, my God, Teddy! Would you look at that?! It's Brian Kinney, sucking face with a trick right in the middle Woody's! See? I told you he'd resurface. I told you he'd be back for nameless, faceless ass. Although he certainly seems to be liking this one's face."

Brian rolls his eyes. That flamboyant southern drawl can only belong to his friend Emmett. And how nice! The positively mundane Theodore is there, too. 

"Hi, Bri," they say in stereo, Brian thinking for the second time in ten minutes that his name is not Bri.

"Mind if we join you?" Emmett asks, for no earthly reason at all because he pulls up a chair and lands his nelly ass into it without so much as pretending to wait for an answer.

Ted scoots a chair over for himself from the adjacent table. "Raiding the preschools for tricks these days?"

Justin skews an eyebrow, a little put off. 

"Emmett. Theodore." Brian looks both of them in the eye. "This is Justin. He's most definitely not a trick."

Emmett and Ted stutter out hello's, wondering how long Brian's been terminally ill.

"Justin," Brian goes on, "this is Emmett. He's the biggest queen on Liberty Avenue. He works at Torso. He's the one to go to if you ever need clothing that screams 'I'm as queer as a three dollar bill.'" Brian claps him on the back. "But he's a pretty good social director."

"Hi, Emmett." Justin stands halfway up to shake his hand.

Emmett bats his mascara-coated eyelashes. "Why, Brian, you've found yourself a refreshingly genteel boy with country club manners!"

"Yeah, yeah," Brian cuts off Emily Post. "Justin, this is Theodore. Better known as plain old Ted. He's uh . . . plain. And old. He's the one to go to if you . . . um, if you need to know about numbers."

"Numbers?" Justin laughs and shakes Ted's hand.

"I'm an accountant," Ted says. Plainly.

Brian signals Rick over to set them up with another round, telling him to put Ted's and Emmett's drinks on his tab, too. Sitting back, he's quiet while Emmett's diarrhea of the mouth runs its course, then he smiles when Ted asks Justin what he does for a living.

"I work at the art supply store right now, but I'll be attending the Pittsburgh Institute of Fine Art in September. I'm going to be an artist. And I just became a dad a month ago. Do you want to see some pictures of my daughter?" Justin whips out his phone and scrolls down to the recent ones of Missy, showing her off to his new friends. A half an hour and another round of beer later, he's finished with his teenage gay father saga, checking his watch and suddenly becoming concerned about the length of time he's been away from Daphne and Missy.

Brian sees the alarm on his face. "Do you have to be getting back?" 

Ted and Emmett exchange knowing glances. Brian Kinney has it bad. For a guy who does happen to be pretty cool.

Outside of Woody's, Brian tilts Justin backward onto the hood of his Jeep and kisses him, their fingers entwining like vines. "Oh, look," he deadpans when they start back to the suburbs. "I'm getting hard again."

\------------------------

"Do you want to come in and see Missy? Daphne usually feeds her around five o'clock, so she'll probably still be awake. You won't believe how much bigger she is now."

"Uh, sure. I'd love to see her again." 

"Let's go in. Maybe Daphne's been cooking." Justin leads the way to his apartment, his stomach growling. "God, I'm starving!"

Brian's face scrunches up. "Don't tell me you two are living in wedded bliss. I just might have to puke all over the place."

"Don't be insane." Justin laughs at the thought. "We're cohabiting to raise our daughter. Every once in a while, one of us will get a wild hair and feel like making, you know, food or something. You never know when it's gonna happen. It's a good thing Missy eats at the restaurant of Daphne's chest. She's the only one who gets regular meals."

"Sounds like college. I lived with three roommates in a food-deprived, chaotic nightmare. And one of them was always eating at the restaurant of his girlfriend's chest." 

"Jesus. No wonder you're gay." Justin shudders, hearing Missy's cries as they get closer to the door. "Uh-oh. Someone's not happy." 

"Justin! You got fucked again!" Daphne blurts out the news bulletin as soon as they walk in, continuing to pace the living room floor with her crying daughter in her arms. It's that best friend radar. Daphne's is razor sharp.

"Oh, my God, Daphne! Don't say that where she can hear you!" Justin takes his little noisemaker out of her hands. "Do you wanna damage her for life?" Holding Missy a few inches from his face, he reminds her that she's the best little girl in the whole wide world and not to give her mother so much sass. When he tucks her against his body and expertly pats her back, her cries turn into small gurgles and then dry up altogether.

"It's not like she knows what I'm saying or anything. You just look-"

"Okay, Daph! You don't have to say it again. It sounds . . . creepy coming from you." 

Brian sits on the sofa after Daphne moves three baby toys and a package of Pampers out of his way. "We can't have anybody thinking Justin and me fucking is creepy, can we? Just wait till Justin notices your freshly fucked look." 

"Right. And we all know how often that happens, don't we?" Daphne shares a look with Justin, the irony of why she wanted him to be her first almost comical.

Justin settles next to Brian on the couch, holding Missy in his lap. "When you get pregnant on your very first time, there's not a lot of subsequent fucking." 

"Yeah, but now you have this gorgeous little thing. She really is cute," Brian says, the baby turning her head toward the sound of his voice. "You guys seem to have the parenting thing down pretty well."

"She likes Justin better than me." Daphne's face forms an exaggerated pout when she thinks of the way her daughter turned into one big ball of happy after her daddy came home.

"Except at mealtime. Brian, here. Hold her. She keeps staring at you. She likes you." Justin lifts Missy out toward him.

"I've never held a baby before. I can't break her, can I?"

"Just support the back of her head, and the rest takes care of itself. She'll let you know if you're doing something wrong." Laying the baby in Brian's arms, Justin fishes in his pockets for his phone and clicks a few pictures as they get to know each other.

It doesn't even bother Brian, and he briefly wonders if that fact should bother him. _Kinney's morphed into a pile of mush._ He can hear the Liberty Avenue gossip mill grinding away. Undoubtedly, Emmett will broadcast his doting on Justin for all the world to see in the middle of Woody's at four o'clock in the afternoon to everyone he knows. That, right there, is going to shoot the reputation all to hell. Somehow, that doesn't bother Brian either. 

"Hey, Justin, I'm gonna take her to my mom's for a little while, okay?" Daphne starts to gather up most of the baby stuff littering the room. "My great aunts are going to be over there, and my mom called earlier to ask if I could bring Missy by for them to see."

Justin helps Brian amuse Missy, jangling her set of baby keys where she can see them and coaxing her into smiling while Daphne gets ready to leave. When she comes back out of her room a short time later, he packs the diaper bag and gets Missy's car seat. "Hey!" He takes her from Brian and buckles her into it. "You're a pro already! I'm gonna help Daph put Missy in her car. Then I'll give you the grand tour of the place. And see what I mean about food? No one cooks it. Maybe we can order a pizza." 

Daphne tells Brian she'll see him later and slings the diaper bag over her shoulder as Justin carries Missy in her car seat out the door. "So I was right about Brian. He really is a nice guy." She giggles on their way to the parking lot. "Is he your boyfriend now?" 

"I like him a lot, but I don't want to scare him away. Do you think he likes me?" 

"Are you kidding? He would have run as far away from you as he possibly could after Missy was born if he didn't like you. You should see the way he looks at you when you're not looking at him. I'd say yes, he likes you." 

"Thanks, Daph." Justin gives her a peck on the cheek and straps Missy's seat into her car. "Say hi to your mom and dad for me."

"Brian?" he calls out when he returns to an empty sofa, a sinking feeling nagging at his heart. _Maybe he ran out the back door as far away from me as he can get now that the whole baby thing has become a tangible reality to him._ "Brian?"

"In here. I gave myself the tour."

Following the sound of Brian's voice down the hall, Justin stands in the doorway of his bedroom. Not only has Brian not run away, but he must not be planning to anytime soon since Justin sees him butt naked on his bed in a state of semi-arousal. "I take it you don't want pizza?"

"Later. Right now I want you." Brian slowly strokes his dick. 

"Fuck. Me." Justin kicks his bedroom door shut and rips off his clothes. Crawling across his bed toward Brian, he kisses him the way he likes to be kissed before he lies on his stomach and spreads his legs.

Brian kneels between them, still jerking himself while he works his other hand down under Justin's scrotum, alternately squeezing his sac and sliding his fingers back up to his ass over and over. 

Justin's dick swells and throbs, pressing into the mattress while Brian plays with his balls and rubs his hole. His erratic breathing makes Brian smile.

"Feel good?"

"I'll have to kill you if you stop."

"Don't kill me till you feel this." Brian rolls a condom down his shaft and bends forward, sticking his tongue between Justin's cheeks. Gently parting them with his hands, he licks his asshole until it's soaked and then starts penetrating him with his tongue. Dripping wet, horny Justin. All for him. Brian pushes the tip of his dick inside of Justin, stilling for as long as he can and then inching further and further in. Fucking him slowly for an impossible length of time, he doesn't speed up until Justin fists his own cock and shouts a string of obscenities.

Coming together, they're silent for minutes, each thoroughly sated and lost in his thoughts. A host of emotions runs rampant through Justin's mind while he contemplates which one would be the least offending to voice to a guy who doesn't do boyfriends. Brian closes his eyes, the concept of an alien life form taking him over the only one that makes any sense. He thinks back to the night in Babylon when he picked up two tricks at once, narrowing it down to the last time his former ego made an appearance. Shallow fucker. He likes his replacement much better. 

Easing out of Justin's ass, he ties off the condom and lies beside him. "Please tell me you'll never disappear again. I've spent the past month looking for you."

Justin turns on his side to face Brian, trying to avoid his hip landing in the wet spot he made. "I didn't disappear. I just had to take care of a lot of responsibilities. Do you know how much shit you have to buy to take care of a baby? Then I had to move my family into a new home and furnish it." Hesitating for a moment, he guesses he'll just lay it all out. "And after what Michael said, I figured you were done with me anyway. I mean the night we rushed to the hospital was the second time we'd fucked. You were over your quota with me by one." 

"Quota? What the fuck did Mikey tell you?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me."

Justin can hear Brian's best friend warning him to fuck off like it was yesterday. "Well, getting rid of me at all costs was his mission in life that night. He said to just forget about you. That you're selfish and only care about yourself."

Brian puts his arms around Justin. "I don't want to be like that anymore."

Skimming his fingertips along Brian's chest, Justin peers up into his eyes. He sees something in them he never wants to be without.

\---------------------

"Morning, Brian." Cynthia hand delivers her boss's triple latte straight onto his desk, hoping to avoid another nonproductive day like the previous one. "Ready to work on the Old Pitt Beer campaign?"

"What took you so long? I've been here since six-thirty. I've got a million and one ideas!" Brian pulls the chair facing his desk out for her to sit in. "We're going to make me Ad Person of the Year! Let's start brainstorming!" Rubbing his hands together briskly, he straightens his tie and does a quick shoulder roll. The gleam in his eye is blinding.

"God, you're in a good mood! More so than usual for a Friday. Did you fuck the manager of the graduation shop yesterday?"

"Ah, Cynthia. You're always so good with the comic relief. Have I told you I recommended you for a raise to Ryder this morning?"

\----------------------

"Hey, Mikey! You're late. I went ahead and ordered you a beer." Brian's already had a shot of J.B. and is halfway through his beer chaser when Michael charges into Woody's. "How's everything down at the Big Q?"

"Fucked. Thanks for asking." Yanking on the bar stool next to Brian's, Michael plops down, scowl firmly affixed to his features. "I've had a for shit day. What's wrong with your mouth?" He drains his beer bottle in record time and orders another. "You're gonna screw up your face permanently with that fucking grin. Cut that shit out."

"Christ. You're in a lovely mood." Brian's smile bounces back into place after he takes a long drink. "What happened now?"

"Fucking Tracy. The girl I work with. She wants me to go out with her and her friends to some breeder bar tomorrow night. She thinks I'm straight, for fuck's sake!"

Brian's quite entertained. Mikey's always queening out about something. "I keep telling you . . . you've gotta come out at that stupid store. Just tell them you like cock and get it over with." He lights a cigarette and offers one to Michael.

"How long have you known me, Brian? Have you ever seen me smoke a cigarette? What's wrong with you?"

"Sorry." Brian shrugs, returning it to the pack. "I forgot." 

Michael still can't figure out why he won't quit smiling. "How long have you been here? Did you get blown in the bathroom again? Is that why you look like a goddamned laughing hyena?"

Brian puffs four perfectly symmetrical smoke rings into the air above the bar. "Mikey, chill. Have another beer. I don't need to get blown in the bathroom."

"So who's the lucky son of a bitch tonight? That leather daddy at the end of the bar? He keeps giving you the eye. I bet he can't wait to bottom for you." Michael cracks a tiny grin, the image of a big burly ape submitting to Brian in his mind's eye. Then he remembers one of the major reasons he's pissed. "Where the fuck were you last night? I sat in here for an hour and a half, and you never showed."

Brian's shocked that Emmett's rumor train hasn't reached Mikey's ears yet, guessing that he must have been too worked up over his Big Q coworkers and their evil plot to get him into a straight bar to talk to Emmett that day. He debates the pros and cons of letting him hear about Justin's elevation to non-trick status from Emmett and Ted. Not a good idea. The cons win by a landslide. "I was here yesterday. It was in the afternoon. I just missed you, that's all." 

"The afternoon? You took off work in the afternoon to come to Woody's?"

"Of course, not. I took off work in the afternoon to look for Justin again. Then, after I found him, I stayed away from work longer so I could bring him here. We needed a drink." Brian smokes his cigarette and drinks his beer like there's no tomorrow, bracing for the fallout.

"Justin . . . You're taking off work and bringing him to bars in the middle of the afternoon?" Michael glares at Brian as if he's suddenly grown two heads. "Isn't there some kind of law against that? Like contributing to the delinquency of a minor? What if his mommy finds out?"

Sarcasm. Sarcasm is good. Brian can work with that. "His mommy's cut the apron strings. She's okay with the idea of him being all grown up, what with him having a kid and turning eighteen and all. She recognizes, along with the rest of the world, that he's a legal adult with gainful employment and plans of going to college in the fall."

Michael can only imagine how and why his best friend could have found out so much about Justin. Actually, he doesn't want to know. The scene Brian had made in Babylon with his possessive antics toward the teenager was bad enough! Then he couldn't think straight for weeks while he searched high and low for his little toy. And now he can't stop grinning like a loon. Michael sees the writing on the wall. And he doesn't like it one little bit.

"Brian, look! That guy sitting at the table by the window . . ." Michael points to an eager beaver who's been salivating at the mouth every time he dares to look Brian's way. "He's practically undressed and waiting for you. He'd be a great quick fuck out in the alley!"

More dumb grinning. With dimples. Not even caring about anonymous ass to fuck. 

Yup, Mikey's screwed, alright. Jesus! You think you know someone after fifteen years! "So . . . Justin . . ." Michael feels himself giving in to the inevitable. "He's got a kid?"


	3. Chapter 3

[ ](http://s1121.photobucket.com/albums/l502/later2nite/?action=view&current=LindasBanner2.jpg)

(banner by britinkinlor)

VICE VERSA - CHAPTER THREE

 

"Hey."

"Hey."

"What took you so long to answer your phone?"

"I was changing Missy's diaper."

"Where's Daphne?"

"Soaking in a bubble bath. I told her I'd handle the baby for the rest of the night so she could have some time to herself."

"Let me know how feeding time goes."

"Asshole. We're starting to give her some formula in a bottle now."

"What are you wearing?"

"What am I wearing?" 

"I want to picture you all spread out on your bed while I tear off your clothes and kiss every inch of your body."

"Cutoffs and a baby spit-up covered tee shirt. Sorry to ruin your fantasy."

"Justin?"

"Yeah?"

"I think Missy's really lucky to have you for a dad."

\---silence---

"Hello?"

"I'm here . . . I just . . . I can't wait to see you again, Brian. I know we're meeting for lunch on Monday, but that's three days away."

"So let's see each other before Monday."

"Really?"

"Hell, yeah. How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? Okay. What do you want to do?"

"Why don't you come over to the loft? I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise? Is it good or bad? Do I even want to know?"

"Oh, you want to know. I've been planning it ever since I fucked your brains out in my Jeep yesterday."

"Jesus. This is just wrong."

"What?"

"I'm getting hard, and I'm over here all by myself. Not fair."

"So you'll just have to jerk off thinking about us fucking."

"Yeah, it's not like that hasn't happened about a thousand times already."

"How do you think I survived an entire month while I was looking for you?"

"You jerked off thinking about fucking me?"

"No."

"No?"

"I jerked off thinking about kissing you. Kissing your face. Kissing your lips. Kissing that place on the side of your neck. Kissing your dick. Kissing your ass. Kissing your-"

"Jesus fucking Christ."

"Is anything wrong?"

"I'm standing here washing baby bottles and leaking all over myself."

"The joys of being a teenager."

"Now I've gotta change before Daphne sees me."

"Justin?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you get here early tomorrow?" 

"Early Saturday morning at your loft. Getting my surprise. I think I need a cold shower."

"Shit! Michael and Ted are downstairs ringing the buzzer. How about if I let you go and I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Okay."

"Later."

"Later."

\---------------------

"Can you get the door, Justin?" Daphne's words are garbled with toothpaste and water when she calls to him from her bathroom. "Tell September I'll be right out."

He greets their friend from high school holding Missy in his arms. "Hey, September. Come on in. How's it going?"

"Hi, Justin. Oh, she's such a cutie! I can't believe you guys really had a baby!" 

"Yeah, we really did. Daph will be out in a minute. Do you want a cup of coffee? I think there's some left in the pot."

"No, no. I'm good. So how are you guys?" 

"We're excellent!" Daphne crosses the living room and hugs one of her closest friends. "Everything happened so fast. The baby, graduation, moving in here. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming! Come and sit down."

Justin runs warm water into a small plastic tub and adds a drop of baby wash to make bubbles, giving Missy a bath in the kitchen sink. Then he brings his freshly powdered and dressed daughter down the hall to his room and lays her in the center of his bed. "You be good for your mom. I won't be gone too long." Arming himself with wallet, keys, phone, and cigarettes, he wonders again what kind of surprise Brian's cooked up for him.

"I don't know," Daphne's saying when Justin carries Missy back out to the living room in a football hold. "I don't think they'd appreciate a fussy baby at that nice restaurant." 

"What restaurant?" 

"Chez Armand's. Some of the girls from school are meeting there for lunch later. But I'll go another time."

"You should go today." Justin's happy that Daphne's friends want her to join them. "Missy can come with me."

Daphne raises one eyebrow. "Are you sure? I can have lunch with them anytime. It doesn't have to be today." 

"Here." Justin hands her the baby. "You're going. Just let me get her stuff." He starts to gather everything he'll need to take care of his daughter away from home while September watches.

"Daphne, you're so lucky. I hope I marry someone just like Justin."

\----------------------

Brian checks the time again, wondering what the fuck is taking Justin so long when he finally hears him knock. He slips into his black leather jacket and goes to let him in.

"Oh! Is that . . .? Fuck! It is!" Justin hurtles himself into Brian's arms, the scent and feel of cool, smooth leather bathing his senses. "I can't believe you're wearing this. I go apeshit for leather! How did you know?"

"In my Jeep . . . riding me senseless . . . shouting out praises to the gods of leather . . . any of this ringing a bell?" Brian drags Justin inside, just about to clank the door shut when he sees Missy nestled in her stroller off to the side. "Whoa! You brought the munchkin!" 

"Missy!" Justin jolts back into the land of responsible dads. "Yeah, I hope you don't mind. Daphne's friends invited her to a French place for lunch, and I wanted her to be able to go with them." He steers the stroller and diaper bag hanging from its handles inside and parks Missy next to Brian's sofa. "She'll probably stay asleep for awhile. This is her morning nap time."

"My castle is her castle." Brian tries to come up with a Plan B for the day since the original will no longer work. "Do you want anything? Coffee? Guava juice? What about Missy? What does she need?"

Justin sinks down into the couch cushions. "I brought everything with me she'll need, and the only thing I need is you." He kisses Brian when he sits beside him and starts to wiggle out of the jacket. "Leave that on. I need to see you in it longer." Brushing his fingertips over Brian's leather-clad arms, Justin sees the twinkle in his eye.

"I'll sit here and watch Her Majesty while you roam around and explore. I think you'll find the bedroom particularly interesting."

"Explore? What did you do?"

"Go look." 

Justin's heading up the steps when Missy stretches and lets out a shriek, apparently having other ideas about a morning nap. "Can you take her out of that stroller? The pacifier is probably somewhere in the blanket." 

Brian carefully lifts the baby onto his lap, thankful that she loves his attention and starts to quiet down. He watches Justin step into the bedroom, waiting for his reaction. 

"Oh, my God, Brian! Leather shackles!" Justin grabs one of the manacles off of Brian's pillow and fastens it around his wrist. Inhaling its rich, earthy essence, he dreams of Brian tying him to the bed and pounding his ass into the mattress. "You weren't kidding! I love these!"

"Just wait till you're in them." Brian handles Missy quite comfortably, even figuring out how to twist the pacifier around in her mouth to get her to use it the same way Justin and Daphne had. He smiles at the baby and tells Justin to look on the foot of his bed.

Justin picks up a pair of soft chocolate brown leather pants, the feel of them in his hands driving him crazy. "Fuck! Why aren't you wearing these?" Clutching the garment to his chest, he walks back over to Brian on the sofa.

"Look at the size. I didn't buy them for me."

"You bought them for me?!" Justin reads the label inside the waistband, shaking his head. "You're fucking unbelievable! I don't know what to say. I'm hard just thinking about trying them on." 

Brian laughs, not doubting their ability to get Justin aroused. "So put them on already." 

"I will, but it's time for Missy to eat. See how she's rooting around?" Unzipping the baby's bag, Justin takes a bottle, cloth diaper, and single-serving can of formula out of it. "You can feed her while I try them on. I'm gonna use your microwave for thirty seconds, okay? Or I can feed her if you don't want to." 

"Bring me the bottle and get those pants on your ass." Brian looks down at Missy in his arms and apologizes to her, committing the very same infraction in the next breath. "I've been thinking about your ass in those pants all morning."

Justin pours the formula into the bottle and heats it up, testing a drop on the inside of his forearm. Then he hands the bottle to Brian along with the cloth diaper. "Put this under her chin to sop up the drips, and you can use it to dab her mouth when the backwash dribbles out." 

"Backwash?"

Justin grabs the leather pants off the sofa. "Do you want my ass in these anytime soon?" 

"What's a little backwash?"

"Let her take a short break after she gets half of it down so she can digest it, then give her the rest." Justin makes his way through Brian's bedroom and into the bathroom. "Thanks," he calls out, closing the door. 

Before his jeans are around his ankles, Justin's cock is pointing skyward, his underwear conveniently left at home. He steps out of the pile of denim and jerks his hard-on, crushing folds of supple leather in his other hand. If he can't have Brian's cock in his ass or Brian's mouth on his dick, this will have to do. Leaning backward against the basin, he squeezes harder and quickens his pace, shooting a river of semen onto the tiled floor a minute later. 

Justin scouts around for something to wipe up the mess at his feet, then he stuffs his now-flaccid penis into the crotch of his new pants. A glance into the bathroom mirror reveals just how dismally his purple tee shirt clashes with the deep brown hue. Taking it off and tossing it on Brian's bed, Justin finds him bonding with Missy over a bottle of Enfamil and a little dribbled out backwash. "How's it going out here?" he asks, padding barefoot and shirtless toward them in his skintight leather pants.

"Couldn't be better. I think she adores me."

"Goo," Missy agrees.

"See?" 

Justin laughs, taking another cloth diaper out of Missy's bag. "Let me burp her. I'll show you how for next time." He places the rag over his bare shoulder and takes the baby from Brian, propping her onto it. "You just rub her back upwards a few times and pat her gently so the air in her tummy comes up." Pacing back and forth in front of the sofa, he burps his cooing daughter. "So how do they look on me? They feel like heaven."

"You look fucking hot. Those pants were made for you." Brian can't take his eyes off the outline of Justin's dick hanging to the right, the buttery soft fabric stretching snugly against it and showing every ridge. A twitch between Brian's legs reminds him of something he needs to take care of. "I'll be right back. I forgot I have something for Missy." 

Disappearing into his room, Brian opens a few drawers and closet doors before barricading himself in his bathroom, where he can't get to his cock fast enough. The image of half-naked Justin parading around burns a hole through his eyelids as he works on himself fast and hard, exploding to the fantasy of his throbbing cock shoved so far up Justin's ass he'll never find it again. 

Relieved and composed a few minutes later, he locates the small pink teddy bear he'd bought the day Missy was born on a shelf in his linen closet and brings it out to her.

"Brian, thank you for doing this. It's so cool." Justin sits on the floor, changing Missy's diaper. "Answering the door in that jacket, the restraints, which I can't wait to get into, these pants . . . all of it. You did it just for me." He smiles at the stuffed animal in Brian's hand. "And you even have something for Missy." 

"You like leather. Now I like leather. It's a win-win situation." Brian leans down and holds the teddy bear where Missy can see it. "And I got out of changing her diaper, too. I'm on a roll."

"But look how these sticky tabs on the sides work. I'm sure you're gonna end up changing her one of these days."

"Let's not get carried away."

"For me?" 

Brian sits on the floor with Justin. "What sticky tabs?"

\---------------------

"I still wish you would have let me wear my new pants." Justin holds the Liberty Diner's door open while Brian pushes Missy's stroller inside. "I could have borrowed a shirt from you instead of wearing this purple thing with them."

"In this meat market? With you all commando under there? I'd need a squad of attack dogs to keep all the horny homos off of you." Brian gives Justin a kiss on his cheek as forty-three diner patrons turn to watch, all of them wondering how the hell they got trapped in a Twilight Zone episode. 

Brian Kinney whipped? There's no way.

Forty-three pairs of eyes track him, his hot twink, and their baby to the table in the back corner, hardly believing what they're seeing. So the rumors are true. God's gift to gay Pittsburgh has been MIA because he met someone. The boy, who can't be more than a day over twenty, certainly doesn't look like a magician. 

"Oh! Look who's here! It's Brian and Justin!" Emmett claps his hands in celebration when he sees his friends walking toward him. "You guys can sit with us. Scooch over, Teddy. Make room."

"That's okay, Theodore. We'll sit over on this side, right next to Mikey. You won't mind, will you, Mikey?" Brian slides in to the middle of the bench seat, pulling Justin down with him halfway onto his lap.

Michael takes in the Brian and Justin spectacle, complete with darling baby girl parked at the end of the booth. "Why would I mind? I can get intimate with the wall here so you two can have plenty of room." He scoots his drink over in front of himself, out of their way. 

Emmett leans over to get a good look at Missy. "Justin, she's absolutely adorable! Where did you get that precious little dress for her? Torso just received the cutest line of newborn clothes last week. I wish I had one so I could dress it in all the latest styles!"

Michael and Ted are all over that one.

"Yeah, Emmett," Michael says. "All you need to do is find some guy to be the sperm donor."

Ted nods at him. "Then you could dress yourself in all the latest maternity styles." 

Brian and Justin laugh and kiss, Justin almost all the way in Brian's lap now while Brian's arms rest on his shoulders. Michael, Emmett, and Ted silently observe, the din in the rest of the place dying down also while the Twilight Zone audience tries to adapt. 

Okay, so maybe Kinney's twink _is_ a magician. That's as good an explanation as anyone can come up with as to how the 'fuck 'em and run' king could have been tamed in little more than a month.

Michael sips his Coke. "Christ, Brian. Don't you have a loft two blocks from here?" 

Brian tears his face from Justin's with great difficulty. "Just waiting for the princess's mother to come and get her. Then we're outta here."

"I'll need to eat first. I'm starving." Justin reaches for the menu and opens it in front of Brian's face. "Want to look at this with me?"

"I've had that thing memorized for twelve years. Deb knows what to bring me."

"Deb?"

"My mom," Michael says. "The larger than life redheaded fag hag who waited on us that night we were in here. She must have made an impression on you. Or scarred you for life. One or the other."

Emmett looks over his shoulder. "Speak of the devil . . ." 

"Brian Kinney? Is that you? I haven't seen your ass in ages." Debbie smacks her gum as she nears the booth, shocked to discover a sleeping infant next to Justin. She looks at the boy she doesn't recognize. "And who do we have here?" 

"Debbie, this is Justin Taylor. My . . . Um . . ." Brian clears his throat. "Boyfriend." His lips fold against each other for a moment, his brain absorbing what he's done. "Justin, this is Debbie Novotny, Michael's mother. And my second mother."

Debbie eyes Brian up and down. "Boyfriend. Uh-huh." Then she focuses on Justin, thinking back. "I served you and Michael bacon cheeseburgers a few weeks ago. He was trying to warn you about Romeo here. Obviously, it didn't work."

Ted chokes on his drink. "Obviously." 

"Hi, Debbie." Justin smiles at her.

"Now look at this tiny angel," Debbie baby talks into the stroller. "Does she come with you, Justin? Hell, that's a dumb question! Of course, she does. She looks just like you . . . almost. Well, with a different color sk-"

"Jesus, Ma!" Michael cringes. "Do you have to be so fucking blunt?!"

Brian laughs and pats Mikey on the head. "Debbie, this is Melissa Victoria Taylor. Missy, for short. Her mother's been Justin's best friend since grade school. She's coming to pick her up pretty soon."

"You guys are gonna love Daphne." Justin finds a picture of her holding the baby in his wallet and shows it to everyone. "She's really a great mother to our daughter."

Emmett volunteers to explain Justin's gay dad story to Debbie with intermittent details supplied by Ted.

"Well, good for you, honey." She leans down and kisses Justin on the cheek, leaving a smudge of red lipstick behind. "You may be the most mature eighteen-year-old I've ever run across. Michael and Brian were still jacking off to magazine photos of Patrick Swayze when they were your age. This is one lucky little girl. And she truly is gorgeous. I didn't mean anything . . . before . . ."

"Hey, Deb? How about some lunch? Justin's gonna collapse from starvation if he doesn't get something to eat." Brian excuses himself to go to the men's room, kissing Justin good-bye as if he's leaving for Siberia. "l'll have my usual," he tells Debbie on his way out of the booth.

Justin looks over and smiles at Michael after they order. Hoping at the very least for a détente in their Cold War, he thinks he sees a softening in his position. "Oh, that's Daph!" He takes the vibrating phone out of his pocket and flips it open, reading her text and quickly typing his reply. "She'll be here in ten minutes. She just had lunch with her friends at Chez Armand's, and now they all want to see Missy. Daphne's gonna come and get her and show her off."

Brian returns from the bathroom, followed by a random member of gay Pittsburgh he just can't shake. "No," he tells him again, sliding back into the booth.

"Come on. Saturday night at Babylon. I'll make it worth your while." 

Brian smiles at Justin and throws an arm around him.

Justin cocks his head sideways, eyes fixed on Brian's. "Who's this guy?"

"Nobody."

"Hey! I'm not nobody," Nobody says. "Don't you remember me? A few months ago in Woody's? You were checking me out."

"Is that true?" Justin questions Brian.

"Probably." Brian pulls Justin back onto his lap and kisses his lips. "Tell him to fuck off."

"Fuck off."

Nobody scoffs in Justin's direction. "Who's _this_ guy?" 

Michael, Emmett, and Ted can't resist, looking at Nobody and responding as one. "His boyfriend." 

"Your boyfriend?" Nobody laughs. "You're Brian Fucking Kinney! You don't do boyfriends. You're supposed to fuck me and kick me out. It's the eleventh commandment!"

"Why don't I kick you out right now? You're bothering me." Ready to end this intrusion, Brian turns back to Justin and, for once, doesn't kiss him. Their eyes lock together in tacit communication, just as they had the night in Babylon while banishing tricks and igniting electrical sparks from somewhere deep within. Justin may only be eighteen, yet, as Debbie said, he's wise beyond his years. Brian may be much older, but he's a spontaneous soul, chasing the high only Justin can produce. He, in turn, is youth at its carefree best.

"Here you go, boys. Eat it while it's hot!" Debbie hands out four Pink Plate Specials and is just about to give Brian his plain turkey sandwich when Daphne walks up beside her. "Daphne, right? You sure have one beautiful baby here." She smiles down at Missy and then back to her mother, who's spent the whole morning getting all dolled up.

Justin gives her the once-over as if he's straight. He stands up and takes her hand, hardly recognizing the girl who's thinner and more attractive than she's been in about ten months. "Wow! You look great, Daph! You've gotta meet everyone." Still holding her hand, he gestures to Debbie, Michael, Emmett, and Ted as he introduces each one.

Brian waits for his turn to talk. "Daphne, you look hot!"

"Thanks, Brian. Sorry that Justin had to bring the baby this morning. I told him I didn't have to go today, but he- "

"Did you have a good time?" 

"Well, yeah, I did."

"That's all that matters. The little princess was in good hands. I fed her and gave her a pink teddy bear and learned all about the sticky tabs on her Pampers."

Daphne looks at Justin, her eyes full of questions.

"It's a long story. Are the girls out in the car?"

"Uh-huh. They can't wait to see the her. I should get going." Daphne smiles at Debbie and the guys. "It was nice to meet all of you." 

"Let me get my sketchbook." Justin digs down to the bottom of the diaper bag and takes out the one item that rarely leaves his side. He tells Brian he'll be right back and heads toward the door with Daphne and Missy. 

"I saw someone standing by the table when I came in. Then he walked away like he was mad or something. Who was that?"

Justin holds the door for Daphne as she pushes the stroller out onto the sidewalk. "Nobody."

"Brian, he's-"

"He is, isn't he?" Brian answers Emmett.

"I think I'd gladly fork over a year's salary to be you for just one day."

"I know you would," he answers Ted.

"I'm so proud of you!"

"I'm fucking proud of me, too!" he answers Deb, giving her a peck on the cheek before she disappears into the kitchen.

"Where's he going?"

"To transfer the baby seat from his car into Daphne's car," he answers Michael.

Michael looks into Brian's eyes and cracks a smile. If having a boyfriend makes him happy, Michael figures he can learn to live with it. It's not like he hasn't always known that Brian considers him a brother and can't think of him any other way. "So . . . she's really cute. Justin's best friend. It's obvious how close they've always been."

"Like us?" Brian grins back at him. Thank fuck Mikey's coming around. "You should hear them together. They sound just like us." He steals a french fry off of Justin's plate and pops it into his mouth.

"I saw that." Justin sits down again and eats half of his lunch in three minutes flat. Then he pokes Brian in the ribs with his elbow. "Ready?" 

"Yep." Brian reaches into his pocket, leaving enough money on the table to cover their portion of the check and a big tip for Debbie. "Later, guys."

The guys shake their heads and laugh. It must be fucking nice to have an eighteen-year-old pretty boy needing to get into your pants that badly. Ted decides to keep his year's salary. He thinks he couldn't even handle it.

"Later." Michael waves at them after they scoot out of the booth, making eye contact with Justin to signify the end of the Cold War.

Ted sneaks a peek at Justin's ass. "Much later." 

"See ya, Bri." Emmett winks at his friend, calling him Bri occasionally just to provoke him. "Come by Torso tomorrow, Justin. I'll hold back a few little dresses for Missy."

Brian and Justin walk out of the diner side by side, each circling an arm behind the other's back while the Pittsburgh Daily News typesets the following morning's headline.

HELL FREEZES OVER! 

\---------------------

Justin pulls up in front of Brian's building and grins at him over in the passenger seat. "Race you up the stairs. Winner gets to top in round two!" Throwing his Explorer into park, he outruns Brian to the ground floor door, waiting impatiently for him to unlock it.

Brian nearly pulls a muscle sprinting up the six flights of steps, his lanky frame beating Justin by a couple of seconds. Some incentives serve incredibly well.

"You're fast. I guess you top today." 

"And every day after that, too." Brian opens his door and leads Justin into the bedroom by the arm. "God, I've wanted to fuck you all morning." Undressing him slowly, Brian's hands glide over Justin's bare shoulders, his mouth seeking out the sensitive place below Justin's ear. "Still want to be tied up?"

Justin flashes his left wrist in front of Brian. The one that's been sporting his shackle around it all morning. "What do you think?"

"I think we have some business with leather to take care of." Brian's smile lights up his whole face, his clothes landing on the floor within thirty seconds. "Lie down in the middle of the bed on your back." He fastens the other manacle around Justin's right wrist and ties him to the headboard. "Sure you want to do this? You won't be able to get free until I untie you. It's a weird feeling."

"Brian?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you care about me?"

"How could you not know how much I care about you?"

"Would you ever hurt me?"

"I will never hurt you, Justin. That's a promise." Brian lies beside him and kisses him tenderly. He wraps his fingers around Justin's dick, tugging it into a beautiful pink erection. Then he leans down and licks and sucks on its spongy head.

Justin shivers with anticipation. "Please fuck me, Brian. You're making me insane.

"Now you get what bondage is all about." Brian stares into Justin's eyes as he strokes himself stiff and rolls on a condom. He lubes Justin's hole and drapes his knees over his shoulders, pushing into him with one long thrust. His balls slap against Justin's ass while he fucks him for what feels like hours, Justin's come spilling out onto his stomach just before Brian tenses up and fills the condom.

"I can't believe you can fuck me like that." Justin slides his legs off of Brian's shoulders after his racing heartbeat slows down. "There's only one more thing I want." 

"One more thing? I think I just gave you everything I had."

"To hold you." 

Brian slips out of Justin and carefully removes the condom. "That can be arranged."

Justin's arms hurry around Brian's body as soon as they're freed. He kisses Brian's lips and sucks on Brian's tongue, but that doesn't keep his thoughts from turning into words. "I know you won the race up the stairs, but-" 

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

"You want to fuck me."

"Well . . ."

"No."

Justin wrinkles up his forehead. "That's it? An adamant no?" 

Breaking out of Justin's arms, Brian moves over and sits on the edge of the bed. He reaches for his cigarettes on the nightstand and lights one "I'm a top. You're a bottom. I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it." 

Justin turns on his side and props up on one elbow, staring at Brian's back. The emotional distance between them smarts more than he thought it would. "Nothing's broken. I just thought . . ."

"Let's talk about something else." Brian takes two drags before he twists around to make eye contact with the person he promised to never hurt. "I'm not trying to be an asshole, Justin. It's just . . ." He extends his arm out toward him. "Come here."

Justin clasps his hand, whatever offense he'd taken losing its bite when Brian's grip tightens and he pulls him close. "Don't worry about it, Brian. I like things just fine the way they are." He inhales on the cigarette while Brian holds it to his mouth. 

Brian hesitates as long as he can, finally deciding that Justin's worth an explanation. "The idea of your dick up my ass _does_ appeal to me. It's just, um, well, you know I've never had a boyfriend before."

"Yeah, I know."

"I've always been the one to . . . Shit! I don't have to tell you I've fucked just about everyone in this burg before I met you." 

"Slutty Brian. I've heard of him."

"Yeah, well, I'm still . . ." Brian sighs, grinding the cigarette into the ashtray. "I've never been fucked, okay? My ass is probably tighter than yours was that first night. Frankly, I'm a little, you know, scared." He peers into Justin's eyes, one shoulder raising with a mind of its own. 

"Been saving yourself for me?" Justin throws his arms around Brian's neck and kisses him with a loud smack.

Brian laughs. "Guess I have been. But-"

Justin presses a fingertip against Brian's lips. "When you're ready, you're ready. Even if you're never ready, that's all right, too, because you know why?" He stands up and pulls Brian toward the bathroom by the hand.

"Because you love being my bottom boy?"

"Because I love being your bottom boy in the shower!"


	4. Chapter 4

[ ](http://s1121.photobucket.com/albums/l502/later2nite/?action=view&current=LindasBanner2.jpg)

(banner by britinkinlor)

VICE VERSA - CHAPTER FOUR

Brian kisses Justin under the steamy spray, more than sufficiently convinced of his fondness for bottoming. Especially in the shower! Pulling back a little, he grins at him. "What did you use to wipe up your come this morning?"

"A dirty towel from your hamper. What about you?"

"An old sponge I was gonna throw away." 

"I just couldn't help it, Brian. That's the best surprise anyone's ever given me."

"Yeah, well, I couldn't help it, either. Your bare cock in those tight pants was fucking hot!"

"Guess we're lucky, huh?" Justin plants soft little kisses along Brian's wet chest, his arms crawling up around his neck. "I mean that I was hanging out under that streetlight and you just happened to pick me up for a quick fuck. Must be fate." Searching in Brian's eyes, he thinks he might see forever. 

Brian locks his hands together behind Justin's back, trying to recall if he's ever, in his entire life, looked into anyone's eyes. He sees a courageous soul before him. Someone for whom honesty is the root of all things, their common denominator. And someone who couldn't be stopped from going after what he'd wanted. "You were pretty fucking brave to come over here that second night after what Mikey told you about me. I knew you were crushed when I turned you away, and it really made me think. I'd never given a damn about anyone else's feelings up until then. Hell, I wasn't even aware it had a name. It was only later that I realized it's called caring."

"Before you fucked that ugly guy you had in here, or after?"

Brian laughs, shaking his head. "During, actually. I couldn't stop thinking about you." He turns off the water and grabs two towels from the rack, handing one to Justin and fastening the other around his waist. 

"That must be why you didn't mind me stalking you in Woody's and following you to Babylon the third night." Justin runs the towel over his face and hair before he smiles up at Brian. "I'm sly like that."

"Good thing you're the persistent type." Stepping out of the shower, Brian crosses his bathroom, where he stops and studies himself in the mirror above the sink. He pulls Justin into his arms after Justin wraps his towel around himself and follows. "I . . . I don't know what you're doing to me, but I've become a completely different person since I met you. Sometimes I feel like I'm eighteen again, too. Like I'm just starting my life." 

Justin looks down at the very same square of tile he'd wiped clean four hours earlier. Then his eyes slowly find their way back up to Brian's. "I've never met anyone like you, Brian. My friends Tyler and Jake at St. James were gay, but they're both so boring. I was starting to think I'd be living my whole life alone. Well, I've got Daphne and Missy, but . . . " He checks the floor again. Maybe he missed a spot. "I thought I'd never find anyone to . . ."

"Look at me." Brian places two fingers under Justin's chin, gently lifting it until their eyes meet again. Gazing at him as if no one else in the world exists, their mode of communication transcends the spoken word. Sliding his palm around to the nape of Justin's neck, he draws him in for a lingering kiss.

Brian still does his very best communicating that way. 

\--------------------- 

Daphne opens the sliding glass door and steps out onto her back porch, where Justin's smoking a cigarette and finishing up his phone conversation with Brian. "Hey, sorry to interrupt you, but can you listen for Missy while I go to the store for diapers? I just put her down a few minutes ago."

"Hang on, Brian." Justin looks at Daphne, one side of his face scrunched up. "We're out of diapers already? I just bought a case of them."

"That was two and a half weeks ago, and I just put the last one on her. According to my calculations, we've got anywhere from one to three hours before she wakes up soaked, dirty, or both, needing another one."

"Our little poop machine. What would we do without her?"

Justin and Daphne hear Brian laughing on the other end of the phone, coming to the simultaneous conclusion that he hasn't changed nearly enough diapers for someone who claims the only reason he comes by the apartment so often is to see the baby and bring her little toys. They plan to remedy that in a hurry.

"I'll get the diapers," Justin tells Daphne. "I still need to pick up the drinks and ice for the barbeque at my mom's tomorrow."

"You sure? Well, if you were going anyway . . . Now I don't have to miss my show." She reaches for Justin's cigarette, happy when he doesn't refuse to hand it over.

"Just one drag, Daph. You shouldn't start smoking again while you're still breast-feeding Missy."

"I know." Daphne's never enjoyed a lungful of tar and nicotine as much as the one she savors and slowly exhales. "Why did we start smoking in high school anyway?" Giving the cigarette back to Justin, she goes inside and turns on What Not To Wear.

"I guess you heard all that, Brian? I can't believe she goes through diapers so fast. I'm gonna have to make a run to the store."

"Just as long as you don't wear your leather pants. They're only for me to see on you."

Justin laughs and snuffs out his smoke. "Right. You've made that abundantly clear on a daily basis for the last three months. I only wear them for you. I promise."

"That's my boy. What time do we need to be at your mom's tomorrow?"

"She said noon. Why don't you come over here at eleven thirty and we'll all go together?" Justin wiggles his feet back into his Nikes without untying them and goes inside to get his wallet.

"Okay. Buy the little princess her Pampers and I'll see you tomorrow."

"We're using Huggies now. They're more absorbent. See you in the morning." Dropping his phone in his pocket, Justin grabs a bottle of water out of the fridge and walks over to Daphne in the living room. "Anything else we need from the store?"

Daphne turns the volume down on the TV. "I can't think of anything right now. Justin?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't worry about tomorrow. Everyone's going to love Brian as much as we do."

"God, I hope so." Justin sighs, swiping a hand through his hair. "I'm just kind of worried about your parents. They've always known about me, but they've never seen me with anyone. Hell, even my mom and Molly. When they see me with Brian, I don't know what's gonna happen." 

"Would you relax? He's the coolest, most handsome guy on the planet. And he's nuts about you. Everyone's gonna be happy for you."

Justin leans down toward her in the rocking chair and kisses her forehead. "This is why I love you, Daphne."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm wonderful." Squeezing his hand, she grins at him and turns the volume back up. "Can you go get the diapers now?"

\--------------------

"Ma? Anybody home?" Brian lets himself into Debbie's house, jangling his keys in the air and shutting the door louder than necessary. He's learned the hard way that she doesn't like people sneaking up on her when she's running water in the sink or rattling pots and pans around. "Ma? It's me. It smells great in here!" 

"Fuck, Brian!" Deb says into the oven, checking the casserole dish inside. "I'm not deaf. Why the hell are you shouting?" She closes the oven door and turns to face him, thick red splotches dotting her apron. "Hi, baby." 

"Christ! Sparring with the marinara sauce again? Looks like there wasn't any left to put in the lasagna." 

"Hey, just wait till you taste it. Then tell me I don't know what I'm doing!"

Brian holds his palms up in front of his chest. "Truce, okay? I'm sure it'll be mouth watering, as always. Thanks for doing this for me."

"Sit." Debbie goes back to the kitchen table to finish her coffee. "It'll be ready in about ten minutes. Did you tell them you're bringing something?" 

"No. I've only met them once before. Just don't want to show up empty-handed." Reaching into her cabinet for a mug, he pours himself a cup and sits across from her. "Contrary to public opinion, I wasn't raised in a barn."

"Of course, you weren't." Debbie pats the back of his hand. "Now that you quit fucking everything that moves, you're a regular Prince Charming. Justin's a lucky guy. I've seen you two eating lunch in the diner every afternoon for months now. You love him, don't you?" 

"Jesus, Ma!" Brian recoils away from her touch, looking around nervously. "That's an awfully strong word! Why did you have to say that?" His chair screeches on the floor when he bolts up out of it and dumps his hardly-sipped coffee down the drain. "Don't you need to check the lasagna? What if it's burning?" 

"Brian, I just checked it. It needs ten more minutes. What are you so afraid of?"

"What am I so afraid of?" He makes a huge ordeal out of rinsing his mug and putting it in the dishwasher. "Fuck! I hate this!" Pacing over to the back door, he stares through the upper windowpane into the yard, slowly shaking his head. "I have no fucking clue how to tell him, Deb, and that scares me to death. I've never loved anyone before. Well, besides Mikey. I'll always love Mikey, but we're like family for Christ's sake! This thing with Justin is so different. I can't even put it into words." 

"That's exactly what love does. Tongue-ties you and confounds you. Overwhelms you with emotions you never knew you had. Kicks your ass up and down the street until you let it in." Debbie's voice softens, a touch of wistfulness creeping in. "We've all been there."

"I haven't. Been running from it my whole life." Brian finally turns away from the window, looking at the one person who knows him better than he knows himself. "Never thought it would ever waste its time on someone like me. Someone who . . . doesn't deserve it." Hanging his head, the linoleum under his feet is suddenly the most interesting thing in the house. 

Debbie fights the urge to curse his miserable childhood and the poor excuses for parents who caused it. She's lost count of how many cuts and bruises she'd tended to on is body over the years, not to mention the internal scars she'd tried to nurse. "Brian, listen to me." Nearing him at the back door, she stands toe to toe with her practically-adopted son. "Your father's alcoholism and all the pain it brought on you have no business keeping you from a full and loving life. You're an adult now. You either choose to let it keep fucking with your head, or you choose to liberate yourself from it." She pauses for effect, saving the best for last. "If I ever hear you say you don't deserve to be loved again, I'm gonna personally beat the shit out of you. Any fat lip your father ever gave you is gonna look like child's play when I'm through with you. Do you hear me?"

Brian finds himself entangled within her arms, still the safest place he's ever known. He sighs and hugs her back. "Yes, Mom."

"That's better, baby. You'll figure it out. Justin will help you." Unhanding him, she grabs the pot holders on the counter and takes the lasagna out of the oven. "You'll know when the time is right to tell him." 

"Debbie?"

"Hmm?"

"What if he doesn't love me?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. The way he touches your arm when you're picking at your turkey sandwich. That look on his face when you're done fucking him in the diner's bathroom. The way he trusts you with that daughter of his. Maybe he doesn't love you." 

\----------------------

"Oh, my God! There's your dad!" Daphne spots Craig Taylor dropping Molly off and driving away from Jennifer's house, pointing him out from the backseat of Justin's Explorer. "Do you think he saw us?" 

"I hope not. He hates me. I haven't seen him since he walked out on us three years ago." Justin pulls into the driveway and hits a button to open his back cargo door before he cuts the engine. Turning to Brian in the passenger seat, he tries to shrug the hurt away. It still stings, but he's learned to cope. "What about you? Did coming out to your parents drive a wedge between them so deeply that their marriage ended in divorce, too?" 

"Um, no?" Brian meets Justin behind the car, reaching in and lifting a Pyrex casserole dish of freshly baked lasagna out of its large to-go container, all thanks to the ever-helpful Debbie Novotny.

"See? That's how it should be. I can understand needing a little time to get used to the idea, but Jesus! It's not like I told them I'm an ax murderer or anything." Justin gets the collapsible stroller out and unfolds it for Daphne, who's unbuckling Missy's car seat straps and fussing with her hair and clothes. "How old were you when you told your parents?" 

"My parents?" Brian winces. "The hopeless sot and the martyred saint? It's not any of their business where I stick my cock. I mean, where I used to stick my cock." He swallows hard and smirks at Justin. "Before I started sticking it only in you." 

Justin's eyebrows raise halfway into his forehead. "They don't even know you're gay?!" Waiting until Daphne lays Missy in her stroller, he hikes an ice chest full of beer and soda out of the car and closes the back door. "That's incredible, Brian."

"I didn't grow up like you did. Doting parents . . . country-club lifestyle . . . private schools." He follows Justin and Daphne while they make their way around the side of the house. "For me, it was pretty much survival from one day to the next in a horrible environment. A disclosure like that would have meant even more abuse."

"God, Brian. I guess Justin and I don't realize how good we had it when we were younger. Our problems were nothing compared to yours." Daphne looks at her best friend and laughs. "Remember that month in eighth grade when we both liked the same guy? We thought that was the end of the world!"

"Billy Hauser?" Justin thinks back. "We were praying he was bi so we could share him." 

"Justin! Daphne!" Molly runs across the backyard to open the gate for her brother and his entourage when she sees them walking up. "Mom!" she squeals at the top of her lungs. "They're here! They're here!" Flinging herself at Daphne, she hugs her around the waist so hard it knocks them both off balance for a minute. "I miss you so much, Daph. How come you never come over to play with me anymore? Can I push the baby? Please?"

"Molly, slow down," Justin warns. "You have to pay attention. And stay away from the pool. On second thought-"

"It's okay." Daphne hugs Molly back, remembering the days when she and Justin would ditch their pesky shadow whenever they had a chance. "I'll watch her."

"But you gotta be careful, Molly. Just push her over to Mom and Mrs. Chanders. I'm sure they can't wait to get their hands on her. And I want you to meet Brian. Brian, this is my little sister, Molly."

"I know, I know. He's your boyfriend," the precocious soon-to-be fifth-grader singsongs, crossing her eyes. "Mom told me all about it. You met him just before Missy was born." Steering her baby niece toward the patio, she tilts her head way, way up, looking Brian in the face. "You're tall."

"Thank you. Yes. Yes, I'm tall, but that in no way detracts from my marvelous personality."

Molly checks him out with the inherent wisdom every ten-year-old possesses. "You can't be that marvelous if you like my brother. Do you know that Justin used to pick his nose when he thought no one was watching? And that he got suspended from school one time for flipping his teacher the bird? And that-"

"Shit, Molly! What the fuck?!"

"-our mom is always mad at him for cussing in front of me?"

Justin bends his knees and drops the ice chest he'd been lugging onto the ground. "What do you think she'll do to me when I lock you in the attic and don't tell anyone where you are?" 

"Mom! Justin's being mean to me again!"

"That went well." Brian presses his lips together. "Do you think she likes me?"

"Oh, here's our sweet little thing! Let Grandma hold you." Daphne's mom lifts Missy out of her stroller and then sits back down at the picnic table, cuddling her grandbaby in her arms. "She's getting so chubby! Did they let you push her, Molly? You're such a good aunt." 

"Hey, you made it." Jennifer smiles at everyone. "Come and sit down."

Justin kisses his mom on the cheek and gives Dorothy a quick hug. "You guys remember Brian?"

"Uh-huh." Dorothy looks away from Molly and Missy to wave at him. "We met at the hospital."

"I'm so glad you could join us, Brian. This looks delicious!" Jennifer eyes the casserole dish when he hands it to her.

"I asked my mom to make some of her famous baked lasagna. You can freeze it for later if you want to."

Dorothy grins at Jennifer. "We love lasagna!" 

"Yeah, you can come over any time!" Jennifer peels a tiny corner of tin foil back and smells the spicy aroma of someone's Italian kitchen. "In fact, when can you move in? Do you think your mom would cook for us?"

"Hi, Mr. Chanders." Justin walks over to Daphne's dad at the table, pulling Brian by the hand. "I want you to meet Brian Kinney. Brian, this is Roy Chanders, Daphne's father."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Chanders." Brian shakes his hand. 

"Call me Roy. No need for all this formality. And Justin, you just about grew up in our house. I keep telling you, I feel so old when you call me Mr. Chanders."

"You're not old, Daddy!" Daphne gives her father a hug and a kiss. "Jen, can I put her bottles in the fridge?"

"Sure. I just hope you can find some room in there." Jennifer pries Molly away from Missy. "Go with Daphne and make room in the refrigerator for the baby's bottles. I'll put this lasagna in the freezer."

"You don't drink beer, Dorothy, right?" Justin reaches into the ice chest. "Can I bring you a Pepsi?"

"That sounds good. So how's Missy doing with the formula? Daphne doesn't breast-feed her anymore?" 

Justin hands a can of beer to Roy and Brian and keeps one for himself. "She still does at night." Opening the soda, he gives it to Dorothy before he and Brian finally sit. "But we usually make her formula during the day. Daphne says it really helps now that I can feed her, too." 

Smiling at her babbling granddaughter, Dorothy laughs when she gets cute little goo's and gaa's in return. "She certainly likes to be held, doesn't she? I'm going to talk to Daphne about getting a breast pump. Then you can give the baby a bottle and it'll still be breast milk."

Justin takes a swig of his beer. "Yeah, we saw one of those when we were buying all the baby stuff, but Daphne said there's no way she'd ever use it."

"So, Brian . . . what line of work are you in?" Roy doesn't need to hear about his daughter's breasts. "I'm in sporting goods."

Brian turns to Roy, a tad relieved for the change of subject himself. "Advertising. I'm an account exec with the Ryder Agency, downtown on Third Street.

"Seriously?" Roy sits up straighter. "I'm the general manager of The Sports Authority here in Southern Hills and at the central Pittsburgh location, too. We just picked up a new line of athletic clothing and a new running shoe that need some kind of promotion other than our routine ads. I've heard Ryder's the best. I should persuade the big brass to go with you guys."

"I think you'd like our firm. We don't rest until our clients are completely satisfied with our campaigns. And we employ the most brilliant and creative minds in the business."

"Well, you guys should come up with a brilliant and creative way to market the Mother's Helper Breast Pump." Justin reaches into the plastic bowl of chips on the table. "Because it totally turned Daphne off."

"What turned me off?" Daphne wrinkles up her nose, coming back outside with Jennifer and Molly at that very second.

"Hey, Brian, why don't we go start that barbecue?" Roy stands up, making a quick escape from the breast pump conversation the only thing on his mind. He grabs two more beers out of the ice chest and tosses one to Brian on their way to the built-in unit across the yard.

"I did that on purpose," Justin whispers to Dorothy. "It's so great they have something in common."

She winks at him. "I know you did." 

Daphne confirms her aversion to such a tortuous device after Justin explains the reason for the guys' hasty retreat, Jennifer answering Molly's questions one by one. They've always been an open family. 

"I think we're far enough away from the baby out here to have a smoke." Roy's been eyeing Brian's cigarettes in his shirt pocket since they met. "You wouldn't happen to have an extra one of those, would you?"

"I do." Brian reaches into the pack. 

"Thanks. I'm trying to quit, but Dorothy knows I can't resist once in awhile. You're going to join me, aren't you?"

"I guess so. I didn't think Justin smoked around his mom, so I wasn't going to, either." Brian lights up and hands his matches to Roy.

"Justin?" Roy snickers under his breath. "He and Daphne have been smoking since they were juniors at St. James. They used to sneak up in Daphne's tree house with their cigarettes until Molly caught them one day and tattled to Jennifer."

Brian exhales a long plume of smoke and shakes his head. "Sisters." 

"We didn't go off on them, though. They're good kids. Never gave us any trouble. Earned straight A's every semester at that parochial school . . . both of them. We figured if they only had that one vice, we were lucky. They always had good judgement."

"Good judgement." Brian nods, mulling that one over. "How tough was it to wrap your heads around their lack of it when Daphne turned up pregnant? If you don't mind me asking." 

Roy reflects on the unexpected events of the past year. Not only the shocking news but also how it played out. Now that Missy's here, he wouldn't change a thing. "I'm not going to lie. We were all flabbergasted when they told us. Justin was the last person we ever would have suspected as the father because . . . well, because he'd been out for so long, you know? But evidently, it was all Daphne's idea. She coaxed him into it." Glancing over at the patio, Roy sees Missy's daddy gently bouncing her and patting her back, the baby's cries quieting down a moment later. "It was hard to blame him. And he's taken full responsibility for his actions. Financially and every other way imaginable. They're young, but I think they're smart enough to handle the challenges of raising a child. And they're committed to doing it together."

Brian grins. "I'd say they're both very special people." 

Roy looks Brian in the eye and smiles back at him. "Especially Justin." Dropping his cigarette butt into his empty beer can, he switches on the gas grill.

"Especially Justin." 

\---------------------

"Come on, guys. We still have plenty left." Jennifer points to the uneaten hamburgers and hot dogs on a tray in the middle of the table as her guests are finishing up their meals. When will she ever stop overestimating how much food to make when she has people over? "You're so good with Missy, Brian. Do you have younger siblings?"

Brian throws a cloth diaper over his shoulder and shifts her into an upright position. "I have one sister who's three years older than me. Missy's the only baby I've ever been around, but as you can see, she kind of likes me."

"Bah gah," Missy gurgles against his collar bone, provoking peals of laughter from everyone.

"I wanna hold her now! Can I? Can I?" Molly gets up and skips over to her brother, pleading her case impatiently. "Justin, please?"

"Okay, but go sit down and Brian will put her in your lap. You can't be so fidgety." Justin tosses his napkin onto his empty paper plate and follows Molly back to her place at the table, standing beside her while Brian lays the baby in her arms. "Don't worry," he tells Daph. "I'll stay by them."

Jennifer and Dorothy start bringing the leftover food inside just as Brian excuses himself to look for the restroom. "Up the stairs and to the left," they direct him when he roams through the kitchen. "The powder room down here is being remodeled."

"So I guess her grandmas can fight over whose turn it is to have her when you guys start college in a few weeks?" Roy smiles down at his granddaughter in Molly's lap. "Are you still on track for art school, Justin?"

"Yeah, I can hardly believe I'll be going to PIFA."

"That's an expensive place."

"It is. But I've received a partial scholarship, and I'll finance the rest with my inheritance. It won't be a problem." Justin reaches back across the table and grabs his bottled water. Taking a drink, he looks at Roy. "I've been meaning to talk to you about Daph's tuition at Pitt. I'd like to pay it and her med school, too, if you're okay with that. My grandmother left me an enormous sum. Our educations, and Missy's when the time comes, are covered, along with anything else the three of us will ever need."

"Four years of premed is no cheap endeavor, Justin. And med school afterward? I don't think you know what you're offering."

"Daphne wants to be a doctor. I want to be an artist. I'm just making it possible for us to reach our goals."

Roy's always wondered how he'd swing Daphne's medical degree. He waits while Justin helps his little sister get a safer hold on the baby, then he stands up and shakes his hand. "Thank you."

\--------------------

Brian steps out of the bathroom and wanders down the hallway till he finds Justin's room. Well, what used to be Justin's room. Unoccupied for months, it's still home to the many drawings tacked up on its walls and sketchbooks piled on its furniture. Quietly entering, Brian's drawn over to the bed by a particularly interesting self-portrait that's lying there, just begging to be examined more closely. 

Carefully picking it up, he admires Justin's remarkably accurate likeness. His golden hair, highlighted with streaks that look as if they've been painted on with a brush dipped in white. His matching gold eyebrows, arching above smallish almond-shaped eyes the color of blue Dresden china. Justin's made it through puberty with the same perfect complexion he was born with, yet Brian likes how the smattering of chicken pox scars etched into it only enhance the character of his face. 

The light hue and fine texture of Justin's beard make it all but impossible to detect, both in the portrait and in reality. Unless, of course, you're Brian. In that case, the slight sandpapery feel of his jawline rubbing against yours when you kiss him awakens in your marrow every single reason that you're gay. Every time. Without fail.

Still studying the self-portrait in his hands, the door clicking shut and locking jars Brian out of his reverie. Slowly raising his head, he sees Justin walking toward him.

Justin comes face-to-face with the man he never wants to be without. "What are you doing in here?" 

He could have asked the same question from the other side of the room with the door open. But Brian thanks his fucking lucky stars that he didn't.

"Waiting for you." Pure and simple honesty in a hushed, velvety tone. Brian's eyes flutter to a close when Justin rises on tiptoe and presses their lips together. He can't help but think of the naive kid in his loft, the one who morphed into a giant mass of sexual hormones the instant their lips first met. Now kissing the sensual being he's created, Brian slips a hand between them and unzips Justin's fly.

Sinking to his knees, he sucks Justin's cock until he's so hard it hurts. Then he lightly licks all around the engorged head, tickling its swelled up ridge with the tip of his tongue. 

"God, Brian . . . What you do to me . . ." Madly aroused, Justin utters sentence fragments with ragged breaths. "That feels . . . You're gonna make me . . ." 

Brian laps up the beads of moisture oozing from Justin's slit, teasing him a little longer before he takes his entire shaft into his mouth. He buries his face in Justin's pubic hair and deep-throats him over and over, sucking him off into a shuddering orgasm. Envisioning the thirty ways he's going to rim and ram his boy as soon as they get somewhere else, Brian eases back up and feeds him a mouthful of come.

Sucking on Brian's tongue, Justin tastes his own creamy liquid and swallows it down. Placing his palms on Brian's chest a moment later, he gives him a gentle shove. He smiles at him when Brian finds himself staring at the ceiling, flat on his back on the bed. 

Justin plucks a condom from the pocket of his cutoffs and wiggles out of them, then he undoes Brian's jeans and slides them down his thighs, freeing his stiffening dick. Slowly jerking him a few times, he covers him with the condom and lubes his own hole, piercing himself with Brian's cock as he straddles him and lowers his ass. 

Brian lets Justin set the pace in fear of hurting him, not surprised when his steady up and down movements turn rapid and erratic in a matter of minutes. Watching Justin fuck himself on his rock-hard dick, Brian makes sure to stab his prostate with every thrust. A tingling in his balls soon drives him to slam upward into Justin's body one last time, shooting his load while Justin clasps his throbbing cock and jacks himself off.

Both gasping quietly, they cling together when Brian sits halfway up, kissing and grinning and kissing again. Gradually growing still, neither can tear his eyes from the other's, a volume of unspoken feelings passing between them. 

Until Justin breaks the silence. "Brian?"

"Yeah?" 

"I, um, I . . ."

Brian's heart palpitates in his chest. Maybe he does deserve to be loved. 

"I got come on your shirt. Now it's smished on mine, too. We can't go back downstairs like this."

"Kinky."

"I think my old come towel is still . . ." Justin lifts himself off of Brian's dick and leans over the side of the bed while Brian ties off the used condom. "Yep. Here it is. Right where I left it." Pulling a square of terry cloth out from under the bed, he wipes at their stained shirts.

"Jesus." Brian winces. "How long has that thing been under there?"

"Since I was twelve. But I think my mom kept washing it and putting it back 'cause every Saturday it smelled like fabric softener."

"This is one fucked up family you've got here. In a positive, life affirming way!" 

Justin pulls Brian into the room's adjoining bathroom, where the few toiletries he didn't take when he moved into the apartment still litter the vanity. Cleaning up and combing their hair, they each swish a little Scope around in their mouths and spit it out.

"You go downstairs first. I'm gonna get some of my old sketchbooks to bring home with me."

"Right. We don't want anybody thinking we were up here fucking or anything." Brian kisses Justin's forehead and walks out into the hall. Heading for the staircase, he hears him mumble to himself.

"They already think that."


	5. Chapter 5

[ ](http://s1121.photobucket.com/albums/l502/later2nite/?action=view&current=LindasBanner2.jpg)

(banner by britinkinlor)

VICE VERSA - CHAPTER FIVE

 

"So, Daph, should we call it a day?" Justin finds her walking two steps behind Missy's stroller while Molly pushes the baby around the perimeter of the backyard. He nods at his sister and then catches Daphne's eye. "Is she being a major pain in the ass?"

"She's great. But we're giving Missy swimming lessons as soon as she's walking. Just so you know."

Justin glances over at the pool. "I'm thinking of teaching her myself."

"As long as she learns. I _am_ getting kind of tired. Can you walk with them while I pack up?" Daphne rubs her temples and smooths an unruly strand of hair behind her ear, suddenly looking and sounding to Justin as if she were much older than her eighteen years.

He chases a fleeting thought through his head that asks if he's chosen a life for them she might not have necessarily chosen. "That's it for today, Molly," he snaps. "Push her back up to the table."

"Why? I wanna push her some more. Missy likes it. I don't wanna stop yet." Molly's just about to turn away from the patio for another lap around the yard when Justin grips the handles and overpowers her. She looks up at him and frowns.

"I told you. That's enough." He parks Missy by his mom's and Dorothy's lawn chairs and puts the brake on her stroller. "You can help me by picking up all her toys you've scattered everywhere. Daphne's gonna sit here and relax before we leave."

"Thanks, Justin." Daphne pecks his cheek and plops down onto the chaise lounge. She couldn't have asked for a better gift.

"Molly, I want you to leave the baby right here while I get her bottles together. Do not move her." Justin knows his sister's wheedling skills are top-notch. He doesn't want Daphne to have to deal with it right now. "Molly?"

"O . . . kay." She stuffs Missy's toys into the diaper bag after glimpsing the raised eyebrow Jennifer aims at her. Then she's off and running, turning cartwheels out on the grass and practicing her cheerleading jumps.

Brian laughs when Molly eventually worms her way onto his arm. He swings her around in circles so fast she's dizzy, then he springs into action a few minutes later when Missy starts wailing in the middle of the good-byes. Propping the baby onto his shoulder, he leaves Daphne an empty stroller to push and waits for Justin to grab her bag. "I knew you'd quiet down after we got you out of that thing," he tells Missy on their way to the back gate.

Drooling away on his shoulder, she couldn't agree more. "Gaa."

\--------------------

"Thanks again for babysitting, Dorothy. I hope she wasn't in one of her fussy moods." Justin opens the car door for Daphne's mom and gives her a hug before she gets in.

"Oh, she definitely knew you were gone, but we managed. I think it's so cute how she wanted to go to Brian the minute you guys came home."

Daphne rolls her eyes and laughs. "She's got him wrapped around her little finger. Justin and I are trying to unspoil her, but he's not making it any easier." Kissing her mom good-bye, she waves as Dorothy drives off.

"What a night!" Justin takes Daphne's hand while they walk back toward their apartment. "I still can't believe Brian won. And you!" He grins at her with a gleam in his eye. "I don't even have to ask if you had a good time. Mike . . . Mark . . . what's his name? He was all over you. I hope you gave him your number!"

"It's Matt. And yeah, I learned from you and Brian not to repeat your mistake. He definitely has my number. Do you think he's gonna call me?"

"He totally will." Justin kisses the back of her hand. "Now aren't you glad we forced you to come with us?"

"Uh-huh. I just thought you and Brian would like a night to yourselves."

"We have lots of nights to ourselves. He really wanted you to come. Hell, he would have taken your dad with us if he hadn't been out of town on business!"

Daphne eyes her best friend sideways. "Are we just gonna pretend Brian didn't pull you up there with him when he was making his acceptance speech, kissing the hell out of you and declaring his love in front of the whole banquet hall? It was so romantic! And Debbie was so proud of him. She had a tear in her eye when I glanced over at her."

"God, Daph, I was so embarrassed. I could feel myself blushing." Justin's ears redden again at the mere thought. "Did I look like a goddamned fairy?"

"You looked like a man in love."

He can't help but cringe, not even wanting to go there. But it _is_ Daphne. "What Brian did tonight changes everything, you know? We've spent half a year telegraphing that stuff to each other with our eyes. We don't need to say it. But now . . . Fuck! I wish he hadn't done that. What am I gonna do?"

Daphne's face morphs into one big question mark. "Oh, my God, Justin. Are you saying you haven't even told him you lo-" She doesn't finish because she opens her door and finds the most adorable sight she's ever seen. Stopping in her tracks, Justin nearly runs into her from behind. "Check this out," she whispers to him.

He peeks over her shoulder and grins. "Shh. Don't wake them up. I gotta get a picture." Taking his phone from his pocket, he snaps a few shots of Brian sound asleep on their sofa, one leg dangling down to the floor while their seven-month-old daughter snoozes peacefully on his chest. His open palm presses securely on her back.

Justin knows what he's going to sketch for his next assignment at PIFA. Sneaking in and quietly closing the door, he and Daphne grab beers out of their fridge and kick back at the kitchen table. True to form, they're obsessing over the latest cute guy to hit their radar when Brian starts to stir.

Careful not to disturb the sleeping princess, he twists his head toward the table. "Crushing on the smoking hot bartender, Daph? Martin, was it? I hope you gave him your number."

Daphne laughs and scoops Missy off of his chest. "It's Matt. And yes, I gave him my number. I just hope he calls me."

"He'll call. He didn't look like an idiot." Brian yawns, creeping up in back of Justin's chair when Daphne walks down the hall to put Missy in her crib. Leaning over his shoulder, his hands inch down the front of Justin's body. "Hey."

"Mmmm." Justin's head rolls backward as Brian's fingers reach his lap. "Don't make me hard out here." He angles an arm behind himself and pulls Brian lower. "Wanna sleep here tonight? We can go to bed right now."

"Or maybe we can do Babylon for awhile. Celebrate or something? I _am_ Pittsburgh's Ad Person of the Year, you know."

"Or that." Justin stands up and kisses Brian before he goes to change. "I still can't believe you won! I guess that's what happens to admen who don't have bad ideas. They win Ad Person of the Year awards!"

"Thanks to Roy." Brian slips back into his shoes. "It was all because of The Sports Authority campaign. Ryder making me partner. Moving into the corner office. Winning the award. I seem to be having a very good year."

Daphne comes back and picks up her beer. "Brian, Missy's out cold. How did you get her to sleep so fast? My mom said she was in one of her moods while we were gone."

Arms lifting nonchalantly from his sides, Brian shrugs and folds his lips together. "What can I say? She adores me. Do you think you guys will be okay if I take Justin to Babylon for a couple of hours?" He grabs his jacket and tie from the back of the couch and tosses them over his shoulder. "Then we'll come back and sleep here. You won't be alone too long."

"Geez, Brian! You're almost more protective of us than Justin is. You two go. Celebrate your big night. Missy and I will be fine."

"Are you kidding?" Justin struts out of his room after swapping his dress slacks and sport coat for ass-hugging Levi's and a black transparent sleeveless shirt. "She wants us out of here so she can talk to Matt in private when he calls. Don't you, Daph?"

"Ooohh, Matt!" Brian squeaks. "What a dreamboat!"

"Asshole. Take your boyfriend dancing already. And whatever else it is that goes on at that club. Do you guys really think he's gonna call me?"

"He'll call," Brian and Justin singsong together just before they land simultaneous smooches on either side of her face.

"Freaks."

\--------------------

Brian lobs his keys to Justin as they near his Jeep. "You drive."

"Tired after all that excitement at the banquet? Posing for all those publicity shots must have been exhausting." Justin looks over his shoulder and starts to back out of the parking space. "Aahh! Brian, what are you-? Ooohh!"

Brian's into his jeans and groping for his dick before Justin pulls out onto the street. "What? You're the only one who can sit over here and blow the driver of this thing? No underwear. I knew it!"

Justin comes in Brian's mouth on the way to Babylon. Twice.

\--------------------

"Here he is! The man of the hour!" Ted tips his beer bottle in salute as Brian and Justin fight their way up to Babylon's crowded bar. "Way to go, Bri."

Justin smiles at Ted, raising his voice over the blaring music. "He hates it when people call him Bri."

"Oh, Justin! That see-through shirt looks fabulous on you!" Emmett claps his hands in delight. "Aren't you glad I held it back for you?"

"Yeah, I love it, Em. Thanks. And all the little clothes for Missy, too. It's great to have a personal shopper!"

Emmett kisses his well dressed friend on the lips, his arms draped over Justin's shoulders.

It takes Brian about three seconds to remove them. "Yeah, thanks, Emmett." He lifts an eyebrow. "Now I only have to pay two bodyguards to keep the studs and bears off of him." Hooking his forearm around Justin's chest, he reels his boy backward into himself, his cock covertly teased through his suit pants when Justin sticks his ass out and rubs against it.

Emmett laughs and goes back to his pink cosmo. "Congratulations again, Brian," he says between sips.

"A shot of Beam and a Mich Lite chaser?" Michael asks Brian. "Let me get your first round. What are you drinking, Justin?"

"Guess I'll have a shot, too. What the hell!"

"Hey, my best friend here is Pittsburgh's Ad Person of the Year!" Michael brags to the bartender when he orders. He points to Brian, who's turned Justin around in his arms and seems to be lost within his mouth. "So, Emmett, how about that filet mignon? What a classy awards dinner, huh?" Michael polishes off his beer before Brian and Justin come up for air.

"Thanks, Mikey." Brian reaches blindly for the bar, clearly under Justin's spell. Tossing back his shot, he gives the other one to Justin and waits while he gulps it down. Then he places his hands on Justin's shoulders from behind and follows him onto the dance floor.

Michael shakes his head, Ted snorts, and Emmett sighs. "We need boyfriends," they mutter amongst themselves, watching the Brian and Justin show.

"That's the last thing on his mind right now," Michael says when Ted informs him he's drinking Brian's Michelob Lite. "Didn't you see that look in their eyes? All they wanna do is fuck."

Ted and Emmett turn to each other, mock pouts on their faces. "We really need boyfriends!"

\--------------------

Brian kisses Justin amid the throng of half-naked dancing men, the top four buttons of his dress shirt undone and his sleeves rolled up to the elbow. Swaying with him to the thumping beat, he presses his thigh between Justin's legs and smiles, pushing forward on the small of his back with a wide-open hand.

Clinging to him so tightly he'll never let go, Justin grinds his erection into Brian's femur because he just can't stop. Gnashing his crotch around in small circles, he imperceptibly humps Brian's leg, his heart rate soaring and his breaths becoming more irregular by the second. Softly gasping, he feels the first drops of come spurt out of his slit.

Brian crushes their chests together, pushing his leg back against Justin's pulsing cock and kissing him deeply while he makes him come. Holding him during his quiet explosion, nothing exists in the crowded club but their stopped moment in time.

"That was fucking hot." Brian drags Justin into Babylon's dark den of iniquity by the hand and finds them a spot along the wall. He slides Justin's jeans down below his hips, lapping at the come on his dick and balls.

The image of Brian Kinney on his knees in front of his boyfriend is one that more than a few of their horny back room neighbors can't ignore. Mesmerized, they watch Justin's fingers thread through Brian's hair, his eyes closed and his head thrown back while his cock springs to glorious life once more.

Brian inches back up to Justin's face after he licks him clean, realizing they've become the main event. "They can't wait for me to fuck you. Would you rather get out of here?"

Justin unzips Brian's Gucci suit pants with the ruined knees, grasping inside for his dick. " _I_ can't wait for you to fuck me. Let 'em watch." He kisses Brian's lips and strokes his cock up and down, grinning when it hardens in his hand and doubles in size.

His groin aching for Justin's sweet little ass, Brian finds a condom in the pocket of his loosely hanging pants and starts to work. He rolls it down his shaft and turns Justin to face the wall, smearing his hole with lube from the packet. Then his middle finger slowly disappears between Justin's perfectly round cheeks, penetrating his body and wiggling around inside of him.

Justin begs for more than Brian's finger. "Fuck me. Come on, Brian!" Stretching and burning, he takes Brian's cock down to its base, crying out when the swelled, fleshy head starts to bump his prostate gland with rapid jabs.

"I'm gonna fuck you all night, Justin. All fucking night!" Brian reaches around for Justin's dick as it juts straight up, jerking it while he slams into his ass repeatedly. Soon driving himself over the edge, he shudders when he feels the rumble in his balls. Grunting while he fills the condom, Brian never loses his hard-on, fucking Justin with a still-stiff cock all the way through his orgasm. Focused solely on one thing, he smiles when his fingers become slick. "Come for me, Justin," he pants, tugging his dick faster and ramming his ass harder.

"Jesus Christ, Brian!" Justin's hole spasms around Brian's dick while he comes. Shivering, he soaks Brian's hand with his milky-white fluid. "I can't believe you can fuck me like this!"

"Like this?" Brian thrusts one last time and slumps onto Justin's back, shooting strings of come into the condom again. Nuzzling the side of Justin's neck, he sucks on it and leaves a mark.

Tuning out their admirers' thunderous cheers and applause, all that's left is their own private world. The one that's been ideal in every way for six months now. The one that Brian has to fuck with a second time in the same evening.

He carefully pulls out of Justin's ass and ties off the condom. Turning him around, he kisses him and bends to whisper in his ear. "I love you, Justin."

\--------------------

"Having fun yet?" Michael asks his flushed and sated friends when they make their way back up to the bar. Glancing at Brian's knees, he laughs. "How come we heard what sounded like a standing ovation in the back room a few minutes ago?"

Brian orders two bottles of water for the ride home. "We're gonna head out. Daphne and Missy have been alone for awhile."

Michael checks his watch. Twelve forty-five in the morning. He remembers the days when he and Brian would close the place down. "Kind of early, isn't it?"

"I think we've done enough dancing and fucking in here for one night." Brian grins at his boyfriend, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "Haven't we, Justin?"

"Uh-huh." Justin blushes, laying his head on Brian's chest.

\--------------------

"This thing's so tiny compared to the shower in your loft." Justin squirts body wash on Brian's back and works it into a lather, bumping his elbows against the tiled walls in his own annoyingly confining shower. "Your designer bathroom is so cool."

"This is actually pretty nice for your first apartment. You should have seen what I rented before I bought the loft." Brian rinses his back and takes the body wash from Justin, soaping him up in return. "Besides, this doesn't have to be, you know, permanent. Maybe we should . . ." He searches in Justin's eyes. Yep. There it is. Forever. Right where he's seen it a thousand times before. ". . . talk about the future." Brian takes Justin's face in his hands under the steady spray of hot water. "Our future. Together."

Justin's breath catches in his throat. Hanging his head, he fixates on their wet feet. 

"What's wrong?"

Justin hesitates as long as he can, still looking down. "I don't know." He shakes his head. "I guess it's just that I . . . I've never wanted to jinx it by talking about it. Our future. Together."

"Ahh." Brian understands more from that statement than he ever has. "Like with other things, too? You don't want to jinx . . . our love?" He waits until Justin raises his head up and looks at him. "I know you love me, Justin."

Lacing his fingers together behind Brian's neck, Justin kisses him the way he likes to be kissed. Slowly, with a probing tongue, pulling back slightly to mine his eyes and then doing it all again. No words required. Pecking his lips one more time, Justin turns off the water and grabs the towels, handing one to Brian.

"The silent thing. I get it. I know we don't have to say it, but the words just flowed out on their own tonight. It was like I couldn't hold them in." Brian kisses Justin's forehead and then pats himself with the towel, stepping out into the steamy cubicle Justin calls his bathroom.

"I noticed. Even if it was ridiculously romantic." Justin runs his towel over his skin and tosses it on the floor, following Brian out of the shower. "Brian, you know how I feel about you. What we have is beautiful. Rare. Fragile. I don't want it to ever change. I want time to stand still. I want to never leave this place where we are right now."

"Naked, in this apartment bathroom with the fogged up mirror?"

"God. I sound pretty fucking dumb, don't I?"

"You're so smart it's scary. I want to be you when I grow up. Come on." Brian steers him out of the bathroom and onto his bed. Lying across it sideways, wrapped up in each other's arms, his vision of the future won't leave him alone. "Seriously, Justin. I can see us buying a home together out here in Southern Hills. Like the one you grew up in, but bigger! With an entire wing for Daphne. And a huge bedroom for Missy with an adjoining playroom. And us . . . we'll have a suite of rooms all to ourselves. What do you think?"

Justin thinks he's died and gone to heaven, his love for Brian screaming in his head. He looks at him and grins. "This is what I think." Sliding down between Brian's legs, he licks and kisses every inch of his cock, taking it in his mouth and sending him to heaven, too.

A perfect ending to a perfect night. Well, almost.

When Justin crawls back up to Brian's face with a mouthful of his come to feed him, Brian swallows it with a longing he's never experienced before. A longing to be filled. By Justin. By Justin's hard dick, to be exact. Washing over him in the form of intense desire, it doesn't go away. He's ready. It came out of nowhere, but he's ready.

He scoots over to the edge of the bed and finds what he needs in the nightstand drawer. Then he turns back to Justin. Dropping the condom on the bed in front of him, he reaches for his hand and upends the bottle, drenching Justin's fingers. "Lube me up. Extra lube. Extra, extra lube. I'm a virgin, you know."

Justin's eyes bug out of his head. "Fuck! You mean it, Brian? You've never . . . Oh, my God! Are you sure? Are you sure you're sure?!"

"I'm sure. And I kind of need you for this, so can you freak out later?" Brian slowly kisses Justin and gazes into his eyes. "I want you inside me." Rolling onto his stomach, he clutches a pillow and folds it under his arms and chest.

Justin can't believe he's about to spread lube on Brian's ass. He works his wet fingers between his cheeks and gently pokes at his hole. Brian's exceedingly tight asshole that he wants Justin to fuck. Instantly getting hard, Justin pushes the tip of his pinkie into Brian's body, hearing him gasp. "You okay?"

"Go."

Justin rubs his finger around Brian's rim and dips it in and out of his hole, burying it deeper when Brian raises his hips. Replacing his pinkie with his middle finger, Justin adds a second one and opens him up even more. "You're so goddamned hot like this, Brian." Sheathing himself in the condom, Justin nudges Brian's ass with the swelled head of his cock. Holding his breath, he eases it into his hole.

Brian tenses up involuntarily. "It hurts. Does it always hurt?"

"A little. But that's a part of it." Justin thinks of his first time and the way Brian treated him. "Try to relax your muscles. I'm gonna go slow." Waiting for Brian to adjust to his dick up his ass, Justin inches in a little at a time and starts to fuck him with long, even strokes. Feeling the walls of Brian's ass squeezing his throbbing shaft, he wills himself not to come.

Soon rocking back and forth, Brian learns what bottoming's all about when Justin's cock scrapes his prostate over and over. Who knew getting fucked by your eighteen-year-old boyfriend could feel so good? Reveling in the new sensation, he rears backward into Justin's dick with a steady rhythm, erupting on his duvet in a matter of minutes.

Getting Brian off with only his dick inside of him is more than Justin can take. His balls tighten and his body quivers. "Brian?" he whispers, pouring streams of come into the condom. "I'm so in love with you!"

\--------------------

"Cynthia?" Brian picks up the phone on his desk and pages his longtime friend and personal assistant in his best daddy voice. "The princess and I need some cookies and milk in here. Think you can help us out?"

"Sure, boss. Cookies. Coming right up." Cynthia checks her watch, hoping the cafeteria in Ryder-Kinney Advertising is still open. If not, she'll be hitting the nearest convenience store.

"And milk."

"Right. And milk." _And wet wipes,_ she mumbles to herself. She's been through this routine before.

"Thanks, Cynthia." Brian swivels his desk chair around to face Missy, smiling at her with outstretched arms.

"Bwiiaan, we have cookies?" Missy abandons her search into the toy box behind his desk, the mate to her plastic high heels still buried beneath a mountain of playthings. She hobbles to him in her dress-up outfit with one high heel flopping on her two-and-a-half-year-old foot and the other one comically bare, climbing onto his lap. "Daddy says no cookies."

"Daddy . . . Hmmph . . ." Brian taps her nose with his index finger. "I won't tell him if you won't."

"No tell!" Missy giggles and hugs Brian's neck, her sandy-colored wavy hair falling around her face in semi-uncontrollable curls. "Bwwiiaan, where Mommy and Daddy?"

"They went shopping for Mommy's pretty white dress. Remember? You get a pretty white dress, too, and you get to drop flower petals down the aisle at the wedding."

"Wedding?"

"When Mommy and Matt get married."

"Bwwiiaan, where the cookies?"

Brian laughs and kisses her forehead. "Missy, you know what? I think it's time you learned how to say Brian the right way. You're the smartest little girl in the world. I know you can do it."

"Bwwiiaan. I say it." The floppy high heel falls off her foot, landing somewhere under his desk.

"Bri-an. Try it again. Bri-an."

"Bwwii-aan."

"Did somebody order cookies and milk in here?" Cynthia sweeps into Brian's office with a tray of sugar cookies and two pints of milk. She looks at him while she sets them down on his desk. "You've got about ten minutes before Justin gets here. Remember the last time you took her out of day care and brought her down here and fed her cookies?"

"Don't worry about Justin. I'll take care of Justin." Brian glances at the time. "I thought they were getting back around four."

"He called in to the day care about an hour ago. Told Laura he was coming to pick her up early. Said not to put her down for a nap."

"No nap," Missy manages to get out through a mouthful of cookies. "You have one?" She holds a sugar cookie out toward Cynthia, displaying the good manners she's been learning at home.

"No, sweetie. You and Brian have them. Thanks, though." Cynthia points to her watch and makes eye contact with her boss again, hoping to save him from the wrath of the Cookie Police.

"I got it. I got it." He shoos her back out to her own desk. "Missy, what do we say to Cynthia?"

"Thank you, Cyn-si-ah." She licks her sugary fingers and pats Brian's nose with them.

Laughing, he runs a wet wipe over his face. "Okay, let's try it again. Bri-an."

"B . . . Br . . . Bw . . . Brriii . . ."

"That's good! I knew you could do it!" Brian opens one of the milks. "Here. Take a drink." Handing it to her, he doesn't care one bit when she spills a few drops on his silk tie. "Can you say it again?"

"Brrii . . ." She can't seem to get any further.

"Yay! You did it!" He claps and hugs her. "You're so smart!" Clearing their afternoon snack off of his desk, he stashes the remains on a side table.

"Um, boss?" Cynthia calls from the outer office. "Justin's on his wa-"

"Daddyyy!" Missy squeals as Justin walks in. Scooting down from Brian's lap, she runs into his waiting arms. "No nap at day care!"

"I know." Justin whisks her up to his face and kisses her chubby little cheek. "I told Miss Laura you didn't have to have one today. What are you doing down here in Brian's office?"

"Cookies and milk," she rats them out.

"I can smell that." Justin sets her back down on her bare feet. "Why don't you take off your dress-up clothes so we can go home? I'm gonna talk to Brian for a minute. Where're your shoes?"

"Bri's desk." Missy crawls around by Brian's feet, holding up the toy shoe when she resurfaces.

"Not your high heels. Your tennis shoes." Justin shakes his head as Brian nears him. "Brian, you know I don't like it when . . . Mmmm . . ." The warning evaporates into thin air after Brian pulls him close and kisses the side of his neck.

"Daphne find a wedding gown?"

"I think she's got it narrowed down to about fifteen!" Justin laughs. "She's gonna bring Dorothy with her tomorrow to help her decide 'cause I've gotta finish my painting. The buyer wants it by the weekend." Taking a deep breath, he's not worried about meeting the deadline. "It's so much easier to work now that I've dropped out of PIFA. Do you know how much this guy offered the gallery just from viewing my other pieces hanging in there?"

"After the check you wrote to Pitt for Daphne's next semester, it better be a small fortune."

"Hey, Daph really wants to be a pediatrician. I'm so proud of her for sticking with it."

Brian pulls Justin over to his desk. "Look at these brochures. We need a few of these contractors to come out and give us an estimate on the addition to Daphne's side of the house. I'm hoping we can have it finished before she and Matt get back from their honeymoon. Wouldn't that be a cool wedding gift from us?"

"It really would be. Maybe whoever we hire can knock the wall down between the guest room and my studio, too. I need more space, and that would double it." Justin goes up on his tiptoes and locks lips with Brian.

Missy carries the teddy bear she finally found in her toy box over to the couch. "Daddy kiss Bri," she tells him, bending his legs to make him sit.

"And maybe they can install that Jacuzzi spa we want in our bathroom!" Justin grins, kissing Brian again.

Missy leans close to the teddy bear. "Daddy kiss Bri lots."

Justin slowly separates from Brian's mouth, his forehead wrinkling up. "Is she calling you-?"

"Bri! Isn't it great? I knew she'd get it right one of these days!"


	6. Chapter 6

[ ](http://s1121.photobucket.com/albums/l502/later2nite/?action=view&current=LindasBanner2.jpg)

(banner by britinkinlor)

VICE VERSA - CHAPTER SIX

 

"Justin?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me again why our bathroom is all torn up, our lives are disrupted by an endless chorus of sledge hammers and power tools all day long, and our driveway is cluttered with dirty pickup trucks all the time?" Brian folds the front section of the Pittsburgh Daily News and lays it on the kitchen table next to the egg-white omelet Justin's cooked for him.

"Dirty trucks," Missy repeats, chewing a mouthful of Cheerios.

"Brian?"

"Yeah?"

"You're being cranky again." Justin slides the sugar bowl over to him. "Put some more sugar in your coffee. We're doing this 'cause we want to, we can afford it, and the house is gonna be great when it's done." He sits down to dig into his pancakes, preparing one for Missy on a separate plate. "Just keep thinking about how good it'll feel to come home after a long, hard day of work and unwind in the Jacuzzi with a glass of Beam."

Brian dumps more sugar in his cup and stirs it around. "Well how much longer will it be?" he whines. "The shower in the hall bathroom isn't nearly big enough for . . . you know." He smiles at Missy, reaching over to steal a bite of her pancake.

"Roberto said two more weeks, but that was four weeks ago. Brian, I asked you if you wanted pancakes with your omelet, and you said-"

"I don't eat pancakes."

Missy giggles and picks up another syrupy piece of her breakfast with her fingers, placing it in Brian's mouth when he leans toward her.

Justin wipes her hand with a napkin. "Daphne's annoyed, too. Sleeping in Missy's room during the remodel is making her crazy. I just hope her side of the house is big enough for her and Matt when it's finished." Sighing, he looks Brian in the eye, both reading the unease that festers in the other's mind.

"I've gotta get to the office." Brian changes the subject, but he knows it isn't over, the _Matt Dilemma_ never seeming to get resolved. He stands up and pulls Justin with him, their lips sealing together while their tongues say good-bye. Then he bends to whisper in his ear before he heads out the door. "I don't really like the way Roberto stares at your ass."

Justin raises an eyebrow, exhaling louder than necessary.

"Cranky. I know."

\--------------------

"Kick, Missy! Kick those feet faster!" Justin holds his three-year-old daughter horizontally in the shallow end of their backyard pool, her swimming lessons progressing nicely for the second summer in a row. "Come on! We want to show Mommy how well you're doing when she gets home from her class."

Missy kicks as fast as she can, the late afternoon sun shining down on them while she tries to add the overhead scooping arm movements Justin's been trying to teach her.

"You're doing great, honey! We need to take a break and put more sunscreen on, though." Standing her on the steps, Justin helps Missy out of the pool, barely slathering her with the lotion before she wriggles away from him and runs toward her swing set in the yard. 

"Matt!" Justin looks up to find Daphne's fiancé staring him in the face. "I didn't see you come in. How did you . . .? Um, Daphne gave you a key?"

"Yeah. I hope you don't mind. I heard you and Missy out here in the pool, so I let myself in."

Actually, Justin does mind, a litany of problematic issues running through his head. Daphne marrying this guy, for one. Him moving into their house with them. Missy acquiring a stepfather. With less than a month before the wedding, Justin still hopes his instincts are off. And Brian's, too.

"Daphne will be home in a few minutes. We're going out to dinner." Matt looks around and takes in the construction site their property has turned into. "Roberto's really whipping his crew into shape. How much longer till it's done?"

"A few more weeks. Missy and I were just going inside. She's getting tired." Leaving Matt in a patio chair, Justin walks over to the swing set and gathers his daughter in his arms.

"I want you push me on the swing, Daddy."

"We're going in now. You know why?"

"Why?"

"We're gonna paint!"

"Paint?!" Missy hugs Justin's neck. "I finish my picture?"

"Yep. Let's go get some dry clothes on you and finish it up today!"

\--------------------

Brian writhes on his satin sheets, his dick crammed so far down Justin's throat they're going to have to send a search party after it. "I'm gonna fuck you so hard, Justin. So hard . . ." His balls seize up as Justin sucks faster, ropes of come boiling out of them and into Justin's mouth.

Justin drinks him down in long swallows, leaving soft little kisses all over the head of Brian's cock before he crawls up into his arms.

Brian holds him close and kisses his lips. "How did you learn to do that?"

"I, um, learned from the master?" Justin smiles and nuzzles his face into the side of Brian's neck, his dick twitching and swelling when Brian's hand roams downward and fondles his ass.

Justin's ass. All for Brian. Rolling him onto his stomach, he separates Justin's legs and slips between them, licking the crack of his ass down to his clean-shaven balls and back up again. A thousand times in a row. Making him wet and insane.

"Fuck me, Brian." Justin's hard cock throbs to be touched, his ass aching for Brian to fill it. "Fuck me really hard, like you said."

"After I taste you." Brian holds Justin's cheeks apart with his thumbs, kissing his asshole and licking all around his rim. Drenching him with saliva, he pushes his tongue in and out of Justin's hole, eating his ass while his own cock comes to life again. When his lubed middle finger plunges into Justin's body, he curves it down and feels for the right spot, pressing on it and wiggling it back and forth. Massaging Justin's prostate with the pad of his finger, Brian watches him raise his ass in the air and clamp his fist around his thick shaft.

Jacking off while Brian rubs him from the inside, Justin closes his eyes and shudders, a white river of come shooting out of his slit. Quivering with sensation as Brian slides his finger out, Justin's ass still craves Brian's dick.

His impossibly long, granite-hard, beautiful naked dick. Brian nudges the spongy head between Justin's cheeks, groaning at the feel of its swelled-up ridge squeezing through his tiny hole. Inching in slowly to fuck him raw, Brian gradually starts pumping his hips.

Justin rocks backward on every thrust. "I love you, Brian. So much. Come in my ass. I want to feel your come dripping in my ass."

Brian hovers on the verge of orgasm and wills himself not to come over and over, finally slamming into Justin so hard he thinks he might break. He freezes while he bathes the inside of Justin's body with hot milky liquid.

Collapsing onto Justin's back, Brian eases them over to their sides. Sticky and spent, spooning as usual, neither can drift off to sleep anymore unless Brian's bare cock is up Justin's ass, his arms holding him fast.

\--------------------

"Hey. How was dinner? Where did you guys go?" Justin reaches into the fridge for a bottle of water, rubbing his eyes and stifling a gaping yawn. Waking up thirsty in the middle of the night, he jumps at the chance to talk to Daphne alone in their moonlit kitchen. "Want a yogurt?"

"Sure. I couldn't sleep either." Daphne takes the container from Justin and grabs a spoon out of the drawer. "We just ended up going back to his place because Matt said all the nice restaurants were booked and not taking any more reservations." She opens her peach yogurt and sits on the cushioned bench in front of the bay window.

Justin takes a drink of his water and sits beside her. "That's strange. Matt was here around four this afternoon, saying he was gonna take you out to dinner. He would have had plenty of time to make reservations somewhere." He studies Daphne's face, checking for any telltale signs of trouble that might have cropped up between her and Matt. "I didn't know you gave him a key to the house."

"Well, he'll need one when we get married and he moves in."

Nope. No trouble. Shit! Justin runs a hand through his hair, dreading what he's going to say. "Daph, are you sure this wedding is a good idea? I mean, maybe you should think about it a little more."

Daphne looks at Justin and smiles. "I know what this is." She leans over and kisses his cheek. "You're jealous, aren't you? But you don't have to worry, Justin. Matt's never gonna replace you in my life. We'll still be as close as we've always been after I get married. Matt and I love each other just like you and Brian love each other, but no one can ever come between you and me."

"I know that, Daph. The bond we have can never be broken. By anyone or anything. That's not what I'm worried about." Justin sighs audibly. "I just don't know about Matt. He seems . . ."

"What are you trying to say, Justin?" Daphne drops her spoon into the yogurt container. "He seems what?"

"Well, just that . . . I'm sure he loves you, but I don't know if he's okay with Brian and me. And he doesn't have any rapport with Missy at all. He's going to end up with all of us when he marries you. Brian and I are trying to give you guys your own space with the addition to the house, but still, we're all going to be living here together. He seems . . . uncomfortable with everything."

"He's fine with it." Daphne glares at her best friend since fifth grade in a way that makes him hate this conversation. "He's never said it's going to be a problem."

Justin's stomach knots up. "I don't think he likes Brian and me very much, Daph. The whole thing just feels . . . wrong."

"Feels wrong?" She flings her half-eaten yogurt into the trash. "He's marrying me, not you and Brian. And it doesn't feel wrong to me. God! You're supposed to be happy for me, Justin!" Stomping out of the kitchen, Daphne leaves him shaking his head in the dark. "And I wish you'd tell Roberto to hurry up with this remodel!" she shouts. "Sleeping in Missy's room sucks!"

Justin hangs his head and rubs the back of his neck. He flinches when Missy's door bangs shut.

\--------------------

Brian stirs when Justin crawls back into bed, reaching for him and pulling him close. "Is Missy okay? I heard her door."

"Missy's fine." Justin nestles into Brian's side, throwing a leg over his. "Daphne hates me."

"You talked to her? I thought we were going to do it together."

"No sense having her hate both of us. We were alone in the kitchen, and I just went for it. It wasn't pretty."

Brian's arms encircle Justin's body. "Maybe we're wrong about him."

"I fucking hope so."

\--------------------

"Missy, go tell Mommy I made waffles for breakfast." Justin sets four places at the table, determined to make things right with Daphne before she and Missy go to the seamstress for their final fittings.

"Waffles?" Brian walks into the kitchen wearing his gray sweatpants and sleeveless tee shirt, ready to work out after breakfast. He sidles up to Justin and whispers in his ear. "I can still feel your cock in my ass. You already had your workout this morning."

Justin gives him a quick peck on the lips before he sits down. "Don't worry. I made you an omelet. Heaven forbid you consume anything, you know, delicious. Well, you do eat me," he says into the fridge, reaching for the pitcher of orange juice. "I guess that counts."

"Morning, guys." Daphne helps Missy climb up into her booster chair and sits next to her. "These look great, Justin."

Brian smiles at her and cuts into his omelet. "Ready for the final wedding gown fitting?"

"Ready as I'll ever be. I shouldn't be having this waffle, but . . ." Daphne takes one from the serving platter for herself and one for Missy. "Weekends are the only days I get to splurge. I have to leave for school way too early during the week."

Justin sets the butter dish in the center of the table. "Daph, I'm really sorry about last night. I never should have said-"

She stops him with a raised palm. "It's okay. I'm sorry I stormed off. I shouldn't have done that."

"Pre-wedding jitters. For both of us." Justin kisses her forehead, finally sitting by Brian and filling his plate. "That's all it was."

Daphne nods at him. "I thought about what you said, though, and you're right. There can't be any tension if we're all gonna be living under the same roof. I'm going to talk to Matt about everything again and make sure he knows what he's getting himself into. I mean, I'm a packaged deal." She laughs at the sound of it. "If he wants me, he gets all of us."

Missy checks out everyone's plate, including her own. "Daddy, how come you get two waffles? Me and Mommy only got one."

"Mommy and I," Justin corrects her. "I'm only having one. The other one's for Brian to rob, bite by bite, when he thinks nobody's watching."

"I don't eat waffles," Brian reminds them all, licking a drop of syrup off his lip.

Missy giggles the loudest. "Bri steals my pancakes!" she tells her mom just before the plastic sippy cup slips out of her hand and its lid pops off. "Oh, no! It falled!" she cries, orange juice splattering everywhere.

"That's why you have your bath after you eat." Daphne sops most of it up with napkins. "Did you remember you're coming with me today to try on your pretty flower girl dress?"

Justin tosses the fallen cup and lid in the sink, reaching into the cabinet for a clean one. "Do you want more juice, honey?"

\--------------------

Brian stands in the doorway of Justin's studio, dabbing at the beads of perspiration on his forehead with a towel. "Time for my swim. Can you take a break?"

"Yeah. I was only waiting for you to finish." Justin rinses his brush and lays it out to dry. Walking over to Brian, his fingers creep up under his sweat-dampened tee shirt and tickle his abs. "I peeked into your workout room when you were on your four thousandth sit-up. How do you do that anyway?"

"Easy." Brian laughs. "I just picture you leaving me for someone your own age, and I'm good for five hundred more. Works every time." He pulls Justin with him into the bathroom down the hall and turns on the shower.

"Good thing I'm into prime aged cock, isn't it?" Justin strips and joins Brian under the spray, washing the paint from his fingernails and hair. "Speaking of which," he says to Brian's rising dick.

Brian smiles at his boy, glancing down at his youthful pink boner. "I thought we were talking about your twenty-one-year-old hard body. Come here."

Making out in a hot shower is just one aspect of Saturday mornings that Brian and Justin treasure. They know there are more, yet neither can think of just what they could be at this particular moment. Soon grasping for the other's cock, they twist and tug and knead, never breaking the kiss while their orgasms build and their come finally eddies down the drain.

"I love you, Justin. You know that, right?"

"I've had an inkling for awhile now." Justin grins at Brian. "I'd never look at anyone else. My age or any other age. You know that, right?"

"I've had an inkling for awhile now."

\--------------------

Brian finishes his daily ten laps and backs Justin up against the side of the pool to rest. Blanketing his face and neck with kisses, he rubs their crotches together. "You're getting hard again."

"I wonder why." Justin smooths Brian's wet hair out of his eyes. "Do you think our bathroom will be done any time soon?"

Brian laughs. "That Jacuzzi better be worth all the gawking at your ass I've had to put up with from Roberto. I'm serious, Justin. He stares! Every chance he gets. I wonder how old _he_ is."

"Yeah, they're loaded. Both of them. They're probably worth millions. You should see this house. It's decorated up the ass, and they're in the process of having it remodeled right now."

Brian and Justin sink lower down the side of the pool, careful not to splash as Matt's voice carries out to the backyard over the intercom system they'd bought when they first moved in. Needing to hear one-year-old Missy's cries from anywhere in the house back then, they had monitors installed in every room and out on the patio, too. Now they never know whether it's on or off because Missy likes to play with the switch.

"I guess he let himself in with his key," Justin whispers. "He must be on his phone."

"I'm telling you, Steve. I marry her, move in here, and I've got it made. Probably won't even have to work. Hell, they support her. Why not me, too?" Matt's maniacal laughter turns Brian's stomach, anger flashing in Justin's eyes.

"If I can stand it, though. Her kid's father is a goddamned fag. Can't keep his hands off his boyfriend. Who's twelve years older than he is, by the way. It's so disgusting. I can just imagine what they do to each other in their part of the house."

"I'm gonna fucking kill him." Justin wants to get out of the water and commit murder in his living room.

"Shh. No, you're not. I'm sure the federal penitentiary won't grant us conjugal visits. Let him keep talking. We need hard evidence for Daphne."

"If I can't stand it here, I'll talk her into getting our own place. The kid? I don't know. Kids grow up all the time living with only one parent. She'll just have to see him every other weekend."

Now physically restraining Justin from climbing out of the pool, Brian's thankful that he works out religiously and that he's significantly taller.

"Or better yet, I'll get her to leave the kid here with him. Then we wouldn't have to be bothered with her. Let the fags deal with the brat."

"Matt?! What the fuck?" It's Daphne, back from her final wedding gown fitting, standing in the living room with her fiancé.

"Oh! Hi, baby! I didn't hear you come in. Talk to you later, Steve." Matt flips his phone shut, nearing Daphne and her aforementioned brat.

Backing away from him, Daphne lifts Missy up and holds her close. "What are you talking about? Let the fags deal with the brat? What the fuck is that?"

"I didn't mean it like that. Well, they _are_ homosexuals. I just meant if we got our own place, Missy could stay here with them."

"Are you out of your mind?" Daphne screams. "I would never leave my daughter! Neither would Justin! And how dare you talk about him and Brian like that! I think you better get out of here!"

"Come on, Daphne. You don't mean that." Matt inches toward her with open arms. "I love you."

"Leave me alone!"

"You heard her!" Brian shouts, he and Justin bolting into the house dripping wet. "Stay away from her!" He comes at Matt with fire in his eyes, standing toe-to-toe with him.

Justin races over to Daphne and takes Missy from her. At this size, she isn't easy to hold. "You okay, Daph? Did he hurt you?" Slinging his arm around her shoulders, Justin draws her into his side.

Daphne leans into Justin's chest and starts to cry, Missy clinging to her daddy in confusion.

"Did he hurt you, Daphne?" Justin asks again. Looking at Brian, he knows Matt's fate depends on her answer.

"No," she sobs into his chest.

"Get out!" Brian explodes in Matt's face. "Now!" Swinging their front door open, he hopes he doesn't do something to him he'll regret. "If you ever come near Daphne or Missy again, I'll kill you!" He slams the door shut when Matt pauses on the threshold for one last appeal in Daphne's direction.

"Daph, I'm so sorry. I didn't want you to hear all that." Justin guides her over to the sofa, his arm still around her shoulders and Missy still attached to the front of him as they sit.

"Don't cry, Mommy." Missy pats Daphne's arm. "What's a fag?"

Daphne sniffles and takes the tissues that Brian hands her. "All that? What else did he say?"

"I guess he didn't see us out in the pool," Justin tells her. "The intercom was on. He must have let himself in and thought nobody was home."

"Shit!" Daphne conks her forehead with the heel of her hand. "The key!"

"It's okay. We'll have the locks changed."

"Tell me what he said."

Justin catches Brian's eye. They'll give her the toned-down version. "Uh, he liked the house."

Brian nods. "And our money. He was thinking of quitting his job."

"Oh, my God! He never said anything like that! What else?"

"Well, he was concerned about our part of the house." Justin glances up at Brian. "And Brian's age."

"I've been so naive." Daphne dabs at her eyes with a tissue again. "I thought he loved me."

"It's not you he doesn't love. It's . . . Justin and me." Brian shrugs one shoulder, gesturing down at Missy in Justin's lap. "And he wasn't too crazy about becoming a stepfather."

"So you've had the right impression all along, Justin." Daphne looks at him, her eyes bright red. "You tried to warn me. I was so blind."

Justin kisses her cheek. "I think it's good you found out his true colors now. Just imagine the problems you would have had later with him trying to persuade you to move out and leave Missy here."

"Daddy? I a brat?"

"No, honey." Justin hugs his daughter and kisses her nose. "You're the best little girl in the world. Sometimes grown-ups say things that aren't true because they're ignorant and scared." He hopes Missy's memory of her mother's almost-marriage to a hate-filled homophobe fades with time.

"Daddy, what's ig-ar-ant?"

"Missy, you know what?" Daphne tries to pull herself together for her daughter's sake. "We're going to explain all these things to you when you're older. Right now, I think we should change into our bathing suits so you and Daddy can show me how well you're learning to swim." She looks to Justin for help. "How does that sound?"

"Perfect! You won't believe how fast this girl can kick!" Justin helps Missy climb off of him and watches her run down the hall to her room. Then he stands and gives Daphne a hand up. "I love you."

"I know." She musters a tiny smile. "Love you, too, Justin. I guess I'll call Emmett and tell him to cancel all the wedding plans. Do you think you can get your money back on the reception hall?"

"It's okay if I can't. It's worth it to me to have this train wreck stopped before it goes any further."

Brian opens his phone, scrolling for locksmiths. "Why don't you let me deal with Emmett? I'm gonna find someone to change the locks, then I'll call him."

"Thanks, Brian." Daphne gives him a peck on the cheek and follows Missy down the hall.

"Jesus." Justin sighs, looking up at Brian. "I can't believe what happened here. That fucker really hurt her."

"I'm just glad it's over." Brian rests his forehead down on Justin's. "Daphne's strong. She'll be all right in time."

"Come on, Daddy! Let's go swimming!" Missy runs through the living room in her little one-piece swimsuit. Stopping short at the patio door, she's learned to never go into the backyard without an adult. "We go in the pool? Please?"

"You gonna come out with us?" Justin tips his face upward and kisses Brian's lips.

"Yeah, after I make these calls."

Walking over to Missy, Justin holds her hand and takes her outside. "Thank you for waiting for me. See? I told you you're the best little girl in the world."

Daphne emerges from the war zone she calls her half-completed suite of rooms in a bikini top and cutoff jeans. "I'm getting a hellacious headache. I need drugs."

Brian fishes in the kitchen cabinet for the Tylenol and gives her the bottle. "For the record, Matt's loss is gonna be someone else's beautiful gain one of these days." He gets a water out of the fridge for her. "He didn't deserve you."

Daphne doses herself up and grins at him. "Aw, I bet you say that to all the girls, don't you?"

"Daphne, before you go out, can I talk to you?" Brian reaches down for the intercom panel on the side of the lower cabinet, flipping the switch off. "I don't want Justin to hear this." Looking through the kitchen window, he and Daphne watch Missy start the day's lesson. "I will absolutely not take this one step further if you don't like the idea in any way, shape, or form, but you know how all the preparations are pretty much set for a wedding and reception on June twenty-fifth?"

\--------------------

"Whoa, Missy! You've gotta come up for air sometime!" Justin hoists his daughter upright out of the water and thumps her several times on the back while she catches her breath. "You can't breathe when your face is in the water! I guess we know what to work on next, don't we?"

Missy coughs and sputters as Justin holds her over his shoulder. Then she looks up, focusing on the kitchen window. "Daddy?"

"What, honey?"

"Mommy kissing Bri."

\--------------------

"Yeah, Emmett? It's Brian. Listen, I've gotta talk to you. Are you working at Torso right now? ...You've got a customer? ...I'll hold on while you get rid of him. I mean, while you sell him some fabulous article of clothing." Brian rolls his eyes at his phone, wondering why Emmett is wasting his time in retail when his talents clearly lie in wedding planning. Every time they've had him out to the house to discuss Daphne's dream wedding, he's come up with one brilliant idea after another.

"...Yeah, I'm here. ...Daphne? She's fine. ...Matt? He's history. ...Wait! Emmett, wait a minute before you start freaking the fuck out! I still wanna go through with all the plans you've made. That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Can you substitute two different people for the bride and groom? ...Fuck! I think you just pierced my eardrum with that squeal of yours. Calm down, would you? We're gonna need matching dark Versace suits. Do you still have his measurements I gave you when I bought him the leather pants? ...Good. I'll give you mine, too. ...Yeah, everything the same. The place, the time, and the food. Were you able to locate the golden gardenias? ...Good. Keep those, too." Brian holds his phone out away from his ear while Emmett goes off on a tangent about the Sichuan, Banna mountains in southern China.

"...Emmett? You're really good at this shit. How would you like to start your own wedding planning business? ...Capital? ...Collateral? That's what I would be for. ...Yes, I'd do that for you. ...Because I don't have bad ideas."

Brian holds his phone out again while Emmett thanks him profusely. Then he suddenly remembers a vital piece of information his wedding planner needs to hear. "And Emmett? Zip up those loose lips of yours. I don't want this making the rounds on Liberty Avenue. Or anywhere else, for that matter. ...Because I haven't asked him yet!"


	7. Chapter 7

[ ](http://s1121.photobucket.com/albums/l502/FOUR</a>SIX</alater2nite/?action=view&current=LindasBanner2.jpg)

(banner by britinkinlor on LJ)

VICE VERSA - CHAPTER SEVEN

 

"Hey."

"Hey."

"What time do you think you'll be home tonight?"

"Oh, did I forget to tell you this morning? I'm not coming home." Brian grins into his cell phone. "Tonight's the night I'm running away with Ricky Martin."

"Shit! You did forget to tell me that. Oh, well, I guess this means I'll just have to sit here in our _finished_ bathroom soaking in our _finished_ Jacuzzi and drink my glass of Beam all by myself." Justin takes a sip of his Beam. All by himself.

"They finished? No fucking way!"

"Yes fucking way. About two hours ago. I wiped the fine layer of dust off of everything, hung the new bath sheets on the warming rack, and now I'm-"

"I'm leaving right now. See you in twenty minutes." Brian grabs a few client files he could work on from home and then tosses them right back down onto his desk. Who's he kidding? Like he could even think of work that evening. Reaching down to unlock his bottom desk drawer, he removes the two small black velvet boxes that have been waiting in it for the past week. "And Justin?" he says, slipping them into his briefcase.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"What about Ricky Martin?"

"Smart-ass."

\--------------------

"I'm leaving early today. Can you reschedule my four o'clock appointment?" Brian stops by Cynthia's desk in the outer office. Loosening his tie with one hand, his infectious smile has no hope of a cure.

"Oh, my God! It's finished?"

"Jesus, Cynthia. Am I that transparent?" Brian glances at the crystal clock on her desk he and Justin had given her for Christmas. Damn! He's already lost five minutes. He wonders if she can hear his heart pounding.

"Go!" She waves him off, but not before jumping up and planting a kiss on his cheek. "Congratulations, boss! In advance, I guess! This is so exciting! Oh! Did you remember the rings?"

Halfway out the door, Brian pats his briefcase. "Got 'em!" The gleam in his eye is blinding.

\--------------------

"Bri's home! Bri's home!" Missy shouts when she hears his car pull into the garage.

"Yeah, Brian's home, honey, but he probably won't be playing checkers with you before dinner like he did last night." Daphne looks up from the stove and smiles at her daughter. "I'm making chicken and macaroni and cheese for you and me. I don't think Daddy and Brian are going to eat with us tonight."

"Why?"

"Well, they just want to try out their new Jacuzzi. It's like a brand new toy for them."

"New toy?"

"Yep. I guess you could call it a toy for grown-ups."

"Bri!" Missy hops up and down in front of him as soon as he walks in. She can handle no checkers, but skipping her hug and kiss is out of the question. "Daddy's in the 'cuzzi!"

"He is?" Brian scoops her up and brings her to his face for a kiss. "How's the princess today?" He sets Missy back down on her feet and looks at Daphne in the kitchen. "I don't think Justin and I are gonna-"

"Got it covered. I'm making Missy's favorite dinner for us, and then we've got a date with her Disney DVD collection in my new bonus room." Daphne points to her left ring finger and raises her eyebrows at Brian. "Did you remember?"

He holds his briefcase up. "Right here. Kind of in a hurry, okay?" Brian winks at Missy before he disappears toward his new Jacuzzi.

"Play with his new toy?"

Daphne looks at Missy and giggles. "Definitely!"

\--------------------

"Holy fuck, Justin! It's beautiful! _You're_ beautiful!" Brian watches Justin pour the last few drops of his drink down his throat and then clunk the tumbler onto the tiled floor surrounding their new oversized sunken tub. "You started without me?!"

"Just a little." Justin's hand plops back into the water with a splash. "Get naked, Brian! It's so bubbly in here! You're gonna love it!"

"Bare-assed, tipsy Justin. We may never leave this room again." Brian drops his briefcase and kicks off his shoes, pushing his suit pants and underwear down to his ankles and quickly stepping out of them. Yanking off his socks, tie, and dress shirt, he throws them on top of his pants. "Ouch! Shit!" He lowers himself into the water. "What temperature do you have it on?"

"Hot." Justin strokes his dick, deliberately teasing Brian. "I've been thinking about you all day. How you're gonna touch me in here. Kiss me in here. Suck me and fuck me in here . . ."

Brian scoots next to him, his hand diving down between Justin's legs and cupping his balls. Rolling them through his fingers, he licks at Justin's lips before his tongue breaks through and swabs the inside of his mouth. "You've been thinking about me?

"Uh-huh."

"Must be why you're so hard." Brian caresses the tip of Justin's stiff cock with the palm of his hand, the aerated water roaring all around them. "Stand in front of me. I've gotta suck you right now." Pulling him up off the bench seat, Brian maneuvers Justin until his dick is pointing directly at his lips. He grasps his ass cheeks with both hands and pushes him forward from behind, swallowing him whole in one swift move. Deep-throating him until Justin nearly passes out, Brian tastes beads of his pre-come tricking out of his slit.

"Fuck, Brian. I'm gonna come in your mouth." Eyes dreamily closed, Justin lets Brian's hands on his ass rock him back and forth. Feeling the rumble in his balls, he shivers with pleasure when his come shoots out of his cock and slides down Brian's throat. Falling onto Brian's lap in a boneless heap a minute later, he wraps his arms around his neck and kisses his lips. "Well, that was fucking amazing."

"You're fucking amazing." Brian reaches out onto the tile for the glass of Beam Justin had poured him before he got home. "I need to catch up with you."

"I think you sucked me sober. Can you believe it's finally finished? What do you think?"

"I think I want to suck you off in this thing every night for the rest of my life. Justin?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want me to suck you off in this thing every night for the rest of your life?" Brian sets his drink down and takes Justin's face in his hands. Gazing into his eyes, he finds their forever right where it's always been.

Justin senses something's up. "Feels like you really missed me today."

"I want to make it official."

"You want to officially miss me? I don't think you have to register for that." Justin wonders how he ever got so lucky, his love for Brian pounding in his heart.

"I want to make us official. Loving, breathing, laughing, fucking, being . . . together. For the rest of our lives." Brian lowers his hands from Justin's face, skimming them down the sides of his neck and over his shoulders. Then he slides them back up, his luminous brown eyes with their green and gold flecks still peering into Justin's soul. "Forever."

Justin remembers the very first time Brian walked into his line of sight. His eyes held him spellbound and asked him in that night, too. "Forever?"

"How about marrying me?"

"Marrying you?"

"I think Roberto built an echo into this bathroom. Justin, I've loved you for three years. I want to stay with you and love you for a hundred more. Will you marry me?"

Justin kisses Brian's mouth. "You sound serious. Like you want to make it official."

"Wow. Nothing gets past your pretty little head, does it?"

Justin grins. "I'd love to marry you, Brian. But . . ."

"But?" Brian's brow crinkles up. "But what?"

"It's just that I kind of have some issues with marriage. I gotta pee." Justin drags himself out of the water and dries his legs with one of their new bath sheets before he pads across the bathroom to the enclosed toilet.

Brian picks up his glass and sinks lower into the bubbles. Nursing his whiskey, he battles an intense case of anxiety. Issues? What issues?

"I've always thought of marriage as some kind of doomsday machine, you know? When my parents divorced, I realized even the most ideal unions seem to be destined to self-destruct." Justin flushes the stool and walks over to the dual-sink vanity. He washes his hands on his side and then comes back to sit on the edge of the tub. "What we have is magic, Brian. I don't want to ever fuck it up." He reaches for Brian's hand and holds it in his. "I love you so much, sometimes I think my heart is gonna burst open because all of it won't fit in there. I guess I'm just afraid of . . ."

"Of what?" Brian mines his eyes, wanting to get it. "Tell me."

"Of . . . like locks on our doors. We're choosing to be together because we want to be. Knowing that you'll be coming home to me every night is what gets me through every day. I like that it's a choice. Being locked in a marriage would change that."

Brian turns introspective, nodding a few minutes later. "I like that it's a choice, too." He brings the back of Justin's hand to his lips and kisses it. "What if we designate our door a lock-free zone and still consciously choose to be together every day? I don't want that to ever change either. I just like the idea of standing up in front of our friends and family and declaring our love openly and celebrating it with them."

"Like you did at the Ad Person of the Year banquet?"

"Exactly! But this time we'll be wearing matching Versace suits! Emmett has it all taken care of. What are you doing on June twenty-fifth?"

"Marrying you?"

"God, I love the way your not locked-in mind works! I'm so fucking lucky you choose me every day." Brian pulls himself out of the tub and sits on the edge beside Justin, his hand creeping around to the back of his neck when he kisses him. Then he dries off a little and walks over to his briefcase on the floor. "I want to show you something." Slowly opening it, he takes the velvet boxes and holds them out toward Justin.

"Rings?! Brian, you bought rings?"

"We can't have a wedding without rings, can we?" Nearing Justin again, he pries the lids back and reveals two sterling silver wedding bands. "We can exchange them for anything you like. I just wanted to have them when I asked you." Brian waits for a stunned Justin's reaction.

"They're . . . they're . . . now you're gonna make me cry. They're gorgeous, Brian!" Justin stands up and brushes the tears off his cheeks. "I don't want anything else. Just you. I choose you."

Brian envelops Justin within his arms, kissing him long and hard. "And I do know you have choices. That hot guy at Babylon last weekend couldn't take his eyes off of you. He wanted a turn after me to dance with you and rub his cock into yours."

Justin laughs a little, shrugging one shoulder. "Yeah, I guess he did."

"But you're mine. Come here."

\--------------------

"Congratulations, Justin! Aren't you thrilled?" Daphne lowers the volume on the movie she's watching when Justin walks into her bonus room several hours later.

"Thanks! It's crazy, isn't it?" He sits on her sofa with her, their sleeping daughter stretched out between them. "How long have you known?"

"Since the fiasco with Matt. Brian asked me if I'd be okay with you two using the date right after you guys kicked him out of here." Daphne smooths Missy's hair off of her face, careful not to wake her. "She conked out halfway through Cinderella."

Justin smiles down at his little girl and hands Daphne the Pepsi he brought her from the kitchen. "Are you sure it doesn't bother you, though? That was going to be your big day. We've been planning your wedding for so long."

"It's okay. Really. Just because Matt turned out to be a steaming pile of crap doesn't mean all of Emmett's hard work has to go to waste. You and Brian might as well take advantage of everything he's done. I think it's great."

"I wish it wouldn't have ended for you the way it did, Daph. But I guess it is pretty convenient for Brian and me to use the same date." Justin pats Missy's back when she starts to toss and turn.

"And all the people I sent invitations to are practically the same ones you'll want there. So that works out, too!"

Justin looks at Daphne and laughs. "It's okay, honey," he tells his restless three-year-old. "Go back to sleep. Mommy and I are just talking."

"Daddy." Missy crawls up into his lap and lays her head on his chest. "I watch Cinderella."

"I know. Mommy told me." Justin kisses the top of her head. "You didn't return her flower girl dress, did you, Daph?"

Daphne groans and rolls her eyes. "How dumb do I look? I _am_ more than halfway through a premed degree, Justin! You can't get married without our little flower girl walking down the aisle!"

"Daddy get married?" Missy's head pops up, her eyes wide as saucers.

Justin grins. "Well, yes." He threads his fingers through her wavy light brown hair. "Daddy's getting married. To Brian. You know that Brian and I love each other, right?"

"Uh-huh. Bri loves Daddy." Missy rubs her eyes. "I the princess," she says, lest anyone forget.

Justin laughs and hugs her. Then he finally gets around to why he came looking for Daphne in the first place. "Will you stand up for me? We won't call you the best man. I promise!"

"Of course I will! Let's call me the best friend!" Daphne leans over and kisses him on the cheek. "Hmm. I wonder what I should wear . . ."

"Oh, my God, Daphne. Don't tell me you haven't already totally planned out what you're going to wear. I know you. I'm sure that's the first thing you thought of when Brian asked you about the date."

"Well . . . I may have scrounged something up after I heard about his idea! Want to see it?" She jumps up and heads through the bedroom to her walk-in closet. "Emmett helped me find it!"

Justin looks down at Missy, snug in his lap. "Have you seen it?" He begins to understand just how much preparation has been going into his wedding by the people who mean the most to him when she shakes her head up and down.

"What do you think?" Daphne holds a mauve floor-length satin sheath up in front of herself. "You like?"

"Yeah, it's really beautiful, Daph. Um, isn't that the same color as the trim on Missy's dress?"

"What do you think a wedding planner does, Justin? Yes, it's the same color as Missy's trim!" Daphne looks at Missy and makes a funny face. "Daddy's silly, isn't he?"

"Silly Daddy!"

"Hey, no fair!" Justin laughs. "No ganging up on Daddy!"

"Ganging up on Daddy?" A sleepy-eyed Brian wanders into Daphne's bonus room, bedhead and all. "Where do I sign up?"

Justin smirks at him. "I thought you were out for the night. You were snoring when I went to get a drink."

"I don't snore. What's the princess doing up so late?" Brian takes Missy from Justin when she holds her arms up toward him. He taps her nose with his index finger. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I not tired." She hugs Brian around the neck. "I the flower girl."

"Missy, you know what?" Daphne lays her dress over the back of the rocking chair. "When Daddy and Brian get married, Brian will be your daddy, too. What do you think about that?"

Justin looks up at Brian, reading the apprehension that covers his face. He'll be crushed if Missy somehow isn't on board with the whole thing. Justin knows Brian's holding his breath while he waits for the approval of the little girl in his arms.

"Two daddies," Missy mumbles during a gaping yawn, unable to keep her head from drooping onto Brian's shoulder and drifting back to sleep.

Brian finally exhales. "Two daddies," he whispers, holding her close.

Justin stands up and hugs Daphne. "Thank you, Daph. We love you, don't we, Brian?"

"Of course we love you. Who else would selflessly give us her day? And her wedding planner? And share her irresistible daughter with me?" Brian hugs Daphne with one arm, holding the sleeping princess with the other.

"Missy loves you, Brian. You've helped us raise her since she was a baby. Justin and I have always said she thinks she has three parents. Now she really will."

"Okay, Dad." Justin grins at Brian. "Let's put her to bed now. We've got work tomorrow, and Daphne has her early class. It's really late."

"Yes, dear." Brian gives Justin a peck on the lips. "How often do I get engaged? I can be tired tomorrow."

Daphne laughs. "Good night, you guys. And congratulations again."

"See you in the morning." Justin follows Brian out of her suite and down the hall into Missy's bedroom.

"She's getting awfully heavy." Brian waits while Justin turns down the canopy bed he bought for Missy when she'd outgrown her toddler bed. "What are you feeding her during the day?"

"You're the one who takes her out of day care and gives her cookies in your office."

Brian lays Missy down and covers her with her new Little Mermaid spread. "Busted." He reaches for Justin's hand on the way back to their wing.

\--------------------

"Hey, Mikey! How's it going? I brought you some lemon bars from the diner." Brian sweeps into Red Cape Comics and kisses Michael on the lips. "Your mom says if you don't call her soon, she's gonna find you and slap you upside the head."

"Thanks, Brian." Michael smiles at him and takes the pastry box. "Everything all right?"

"Couldn't be better. I've got big news! I think you should sit down."

"Oh, fuck! What happened? Justin sold a painting for a million bucks?" Michael grabs a lemon bar and pops it into his mouth. Licking his fingers, he sets the box on his counter. "You guys gonna retire to the south of France?"

"I'm serious, Mikey. Let's sit." Brian folds his suit jacket over the arm of Michael's couch in the corner and plops down. "Actually, I thought you would have heard by now. Emmett hasn't spilled his guts out to you and Ted yet?"

Michael brings two bottles of water from the little fridge on the back wall and hands one to Brian as he sinks in beside him. "Em's hardly been around the last two weeks. He said he's planning a wedding every second he's not working at Torso."

"Yeah, about that wedding. How would you like to be my best man?" A blinding smile covers Brian's face, his words sounding as unbelievable to himself as they do to Michael. "I asked Justin to marry me last night."

Michael skews an eyebrow at Brian, wondering just when in the fuck he lost his mind. "Okay, it's not April Fool's Day, is it? Last time I looked at the calendar, it was June. There's no fucking way you're getting married. What is it you really came in here to tell me?"

Brian laughs and pats Michael's arm. "It's true, Mikey. We're going to use the date we had reserved for Daphne's wedding. I swore Emmett to secrecy these last two weeks because I wanted to ask Justin in our new Jacuzzi, but the damn thing wasn't done until yesterday." He takes a big gulp of his water and then laughs again. "After some creative defining of the term marriage, he finally accepted!"

"Jesus, Brian." Michael's jaw still rests in his lap, disbelief etched into his features. "I knew you guys were doing great out there in your Southern Hills mansion, but marriage? That's a huge step!"

"I love him, Michael." Brian's lips press inward against each other, his chronic habit never seeming more apt. "So . . . you haven't answered me yet. Are you gonna stand up for me in ten days when I tie the knot? You're my best friend. I wouldn't want anyone else to do it."

"Sure, I'll be your best man. Ten days? Shit! That's really close!"

"Emmett's got everything under control. You're gonna look so handsome in your Armani suit with the mauve pocket square."

"Mauve pocket square?!"

"To complement Daphne's dress. She's standing up for Justin." Brian glances at his watch, hoping to fit one more stop into his lunch hour before he makes it back to the office. "Listen, I gotta run, Mikey. Emmett can fill you in on all the details. I'll see you Friday night at Woody's."

Michael stands up when Brian does and kisses him good-bye. "Right. See you Friday at Woody's." He looks at his oldest and dearest friend, shaking his head. "Never thought I'd see the day when Brian Kinney took a husband. I love you."

"Me, too, Mikey. Always have. Always will."

\--------------------

"Brian! What are you doing here?" Emmett looks up when he hears the tinkling bell on Torso's door. "I thought you said we couldn't be seen together until . . . OH, MY GOD! HE SAID YES?! When did you ask him? Was it so romantic? Dish!" Abandoning his shirt-folding task for the display table, Emmett walks over and hugs his beaming friend.

"Yeah, he said yes. I asked him last night, and he only made me chew off one fingernail while I waited for his answer." Brian looks around the store and then back at Emmett. "Is everything all set? How much more do you have to do?"

"Everything's right on schedule. Nothing left to do. You want to see Michael's suit? Oh! What about Michael? Does he know yet?"

"I just left Red Cape. He said he'd stand up for me. You've got his suit?"

"Yeah, it arrived this morning." Emmett hurries into the employees only area and comes back out with a large garment bag in his hands. "I think it's beautiful." Unzipping the protective plastic, he shows Brian a slate gray suit in Michael's size, praying it'll pass his inspection.

Brian runs his fingers over the silk fabric. "Niiiice," he drawls, the feel of expensive designer clothing arousing him as always. "Now I wish I would have gone with Armani for Justin and me. Fuck!"

"Are you kidding? The Versace is perfect for Justin and you. But if you want me to start looking for-"

"No, we'll keep the Versace. Emmett?"

"Uh-huh?" Emmett hangs Michael's suit behind the cash register, planning to steam a few tiny wrinkles out of the trousers when Brian leaves.

"I was sure you'd crack under the pressure and blab everything to Michael and Ted. Remember what I said about striking out on your own and becoming a professional wedding planner?"

"Um, yes, I remember. But you were just so excited about substituting you and Justin for Matt and Daphne right then. I didn't think you were actually serious about setting me up in business."

"I meant it. I'm impressed with your eye for detail and your ability to get things done. I keep telling you you're really good at this shit."

Emmett dares to think his longtime dream might be possible to achieve. "Brian, I'd give my notice here at Torso tomorrow if I thought-"

"Good. Then it's settled." Brian smiles at him. "Now that I've bought out Ryder and own the advertising firm, I'm going to have all the offices on the north side of the building cleared for you to use as your base of operations. That saves me overhead. And we'll do all the promotion to get you off the ground. You just need a few clients, and you'll be working your wedding magic full-time."

"I . . . I don't know what to say, Brian! This is so-" Cut off when Brian's phone rings in his pocket, Emmett mulls over the finer points of writing a resignation letter while he listens to him make dinner plans with Justin. He pinches the back of his hand to make sure he's awake.

"Where were we?" Brian snaps his phone shut. "Oh, yeah. Why don't you come by the office tomorrow and we'll discuss the terms of my silent partnership. Can you draw up a broad list of materials and supplies you'll need to get started so I can project my initial cost outlay? Emmett?" Brian stops talking and raises an eyebrow. "Those aren't tears, are they?"

"Of course, not." Emmett sniffles and swipes at the moisture in the corner of his eye. "Brian, this means so much to me. I can never thank you enough."

Brian checks the time. Those boards aren't going to approve themselves. "After everything you've done for Justin and me to make the most important day of our lives memorable? Thank _you_ , Emmett."

\--------------------

Brian pulls into Woody's parking lot and finds a space for the '73 Corvette he purchased shortly after he'd bought Ryder out. Scanning around for Justin's Explorer, he sheds his jacket and tie and rolls up his sleeves, grinning when Justin parks right next to him five minutes later. Brian's out of his Vette and into the SUV before Justin has a chance to cut the engine.

"Miss me or something?"

"Kiss me!" Brian leans all over his fiancé, his fingers playing with Justin's long yellow hair while his tongue pushes between his lips. He unzips Justin's fly and reaches in. "No underwear! Thank you!"

Justin's hand burrows beneath Brian's clothes and strokes his long shaft. "Jesus, Brian. You're so hard. You didn't jack off today, did you?"

"No time. I've gotta fuck you!" Brian finds the bottle of lube in the glove compartment as Justin climbs over the center console. Pulling his jeans down, he slathers the crack of his ass with lube, working two fingers inside to open him up.

Justin closes his eyes while Brian finger fucks him, his dick rising in a matter of seconds and lying against his stomach. Feeling Brian's tongue press into his slit and lick the swelled up tip of his cock, he shivers when Brian starts to suck him off. "God, Brian." His breaths get short and jagged. "You're gonna make me come in your mouth."

Brian swallows the white ribbons spurting out of Justin's body, slowly sliding his fingers out of his ass. "Well, that was fucking hot. Turn around." He kisses Justin's lips and helps him face the windshield.

Still reeling from his orgasm in Brian's mouth, Justin plunges onto his dick over and over again, fucking himself on Brian's rock-hard cock.

Brian grasps Justin's hips from behind, guiding him up and down faster. "You're always so goddamned tight, Justin. I'm gonna come in your tight little ass." Feeling the pull in his balls, Brian shoves hard into Justin's hole and freezes, unleashing a torrent of hot creamy come inside his body. He wraps his arms around him and holds him close while his racing pulse slows down.

Justin leans back against Brian's chest and relaxes his muscles. His head rolls backward onto his shoulder when Brian kisses the side of his neck. "Fuck, Brian. I . . . I only have one question. After we're married, will you still . . . blow me?"

Brian laughs a little, contemplating his answer. "That depends. Will you still . . . fuck me in the car every chance we get?"

"That's a choice I don't ever see changing." Justin grins and inches off of Brian's cock. He grabs a bunch of paper towels out of the glove compartment and wads them together, cleaning himself up and then pulling his jeans back on. "Are you sure you really want me here tonight?" He climbs over into the driver's seat again. "This is the last Friday you'll get to hang with Michael as a single man."

"I wouldn't have called and asked you to meet me here if I wanted to hang out with Michael alone." Using some of the paper towels, Brian wipes off before he tucks himself back into his pants. "Besides, he got ahold of Emmett and Ted and arranged a sort of impromptu bachelor party for us. I can't go in there without you."

Justin smiles at Brian, thinking of how he cut his after-work trips to Woody's with Michael down to once a week after they'd fallen in love. He doesn't want him to halt the Friday night ritual just because they're getting married. "Well, I guess I can't miss our bachelor party, can I?"

"Nope. But you can be late." Brian leans toward Justin and kisses him softly at first. Prying himself away from his lips twenty minutes later, he gets out of Justin's car and drapes his arm over his shoulders as they walk into Woody's.

\--------------------

Justin studies the work of art propped on Missy's child-sized easel. Trying to decipher exactly what it is, he points to a particularly pleasing blob in the bottom corner. "This is a pretty color."

"I like purple." Missy fidgets with her clothes and tugs at her smock, code for being tired and wanting to quit for the day. "I done now, Daddy."

"Okay, but remember you have to rinse out your brush first?" Justin walks her over to the sink in his studio and turns on the water, helping her drain the last traces of violet from the bristles. "So tomorrow's the big day, you know. Are you ready to be the best little flower girl in the whole wide world?"

Missy looks up at her daddy with the saddest eyes he's ever seen. "I not have any flowers."

Justin shuts off the water and lays her brush out to dry. "Emmett has your bouquet all ready for you. What's the matter, honey? Did you forget what you're going to do again?"

Shaking her head yes, Missy's eyes cloud up with tears.

"Come and sit with me." Justin unsnaps Missy's smock in the back and takes it off of her. Then he carries her to his easy chair in the corner and settles her into his lap for the same talk he, Daphne, and Brian have given her numerous times before. "You're going to walk down the aisle in front of Brian and me and sprinkle the flower petals from your basket onto the floor. When you get to the front of the hall, you'll sit with Grandma Jen, Aunt Molly, Grandma Dorothy, and Grandpa Roy and be real quiet while the minister performs the ceremony. It'll be over before you know it, and then the big party will start. You can do that, right?"

Missy's still frowning when Brian comes in and sits in the other chair.

"Hey."

"Hey. How's it going in here? The princess doesn't look very happy."

Justin kisses Missy's cheek. "We just had the talk. Again."

Brian smiles at her. "We'll remind you what to do right before the wedding starts, okay, sweetie?" He looks at Justin, holding his eyes with his own. "Are you nervous? About tomorrow?"

"No. Are you?"

"No."

"That's good." Justin reaches out for Brian's hand. "'Cause Missy's jittery enough for both of us."

\--------------------

Brian's roused out of a deep sleep by Justin's tongue tickling his rim and dipping in and out of his hole. Gradually stirring, he parts his legs and murmurs into his pillow. "I was dreaming it was our wedding day and you were licking my ass before you fucked me awake."

Justin coats his early morning hard-on with lube and works its swelled up head through Brian's first ring of muscle. "Happy to make your dreams come true. Especially on our wedding day." He glides the rest of the way in with one push, pumping slowly at first and then quickening his pace when Brian raises his hips off the bed and starts to rear backward on every thrust. Soon jamming the head of his cock into Brian's prostate over and over, he feels the tug in his balls. Slamming Brian's ass for the last time, Justin memorizes the vivid hues darting around behind his eyelids while his dick explodes. "Fuck, Brian! I fucking love fucking you every fucking morning!"

"Good thing that's your job."

Collapsing onto Brian, Justin leaves soft little kisses up and down his back. He sighs and lays his chin on Brian's shoulder. "Remember the zillions of condoms we went through the first year?"

"I heard Trojan went out of business when we started fucking raw. What made you think of condoms?"

"I don't know." Justin rolls off of Brian and lies beside him, peering into his eyes. "I guess because every time I slip my bare cock inside you, I fall a little more in love with you. I just wanted to tell you that."

Struggling to corral his emotions into a manageable lot, Brian takes Justin in his arms. "The first time I fucked you without a condom, I cried."

"You never looked more beautiful to me." Justin's hand snakes in between them and grasps Brian's rigid cock. He jerks him a few times and then crawls down to take him into his mouth. Deep-throating Brian's oozing dick, Justin sucks him to the verge of eruption several times before he finally drinks every drop of come out of his body.

Brian shudders through his pleasure, hardly believing they'll be married before the end of the day. "I love you, Justin. I choose to love you every day for the rest of my life."

Hoping he never wakes from this dream, Justin inches back up to Brian's face. "We need to shower and shave. We have a wedding to get to!"

\--------------------

"Missy, hold still. Let me buckle your shoe." Daphne crouches down by her daughter's foot, trying not to wrinkle her long satin dress. "There's Emmett with your bouquet. Don't forget to say thank you when he gives it to you."

"Oh, my God, Daphne! Mauve is your color!" Emmett waits for her to stand back up and gives her a hug. Then he smiles at Missy. "Look at you! You're the prettiest flower girl I've ever seen!" Handing her the all-important prop, he shows her how to get the loose petals from the bottom of the basket and drop them as she walks down the aisle.

Missy takes one look at the bouquet and beams from ear to ear. "Thank you!"

Emmett glances at the large clock on the wall. "Ten minutes till showtime!" he announces, flitting off to perform the next item on his checklist. This wedding needs to come off without a hitch.

Daphne tucks an errant curl into Missy's ponytail and kisses the top of her head. "I should get up to the front of the hall now. Please be good for Daddy and Brian."

"I be good."

"Justin, you look so cool in that suit and tie!" Daphne hugs him around the neck on her way out of the dressing room. "You know what it reminds me of?"

"St. fucking James!" they say together, laughing through one more hug.

"Oh, shit! The rings!" Brian grabs the velvet boxes out of the inside pocket of his jacket. "Emmett! Can you get these up to Michael? I forgot to give them to him!"

Appearing at Brian's side, Emmett does his level best to stay calm. "Daphne's going. She can take them. Let me catch her . . . Daphne?!"

Brian quits primping in the full-length mirror and sidles up to Justin. "Is it too late for me to have a quick smoke?" he asks, the look on Justin's face squelching _that_ idea.

"The minister's taking his place. Let's have a wedding!" Emmett takes ahold of Missy's hand and leads her toward the door. "Brian? Justin? Let's go!"

The Versace-clad grooms share their last kiss as unmarried men before Brian crooks his arm and Justin slips his hand through the opening. Following Emmett and Missy to the back of the golden gardenia-scented hall, neither is more sure of any decision he's ever made.

"Daddy?" Missy's little voice pierces the quiet just as Emmett's about to cue the string quartet and send her down the aisle.

"What?" Justin and Brian answer at the same time.

"I the flower girl!" She lifts her bouquet up high, just in case either of them has missed it.

"Aww . . ." A low rumble of subdued laughter reverberates from among the seated guests as they twist around to see, "She's so adorable!" and "They're so handsome!" and "Everything's so gorgeous!" wafting through the air.

Other than thirteen-year-old Molly getting up to collect her niece when she can't quite remember what happens after the long walk in front of her daddies, the marriage of Mr. Brian Kinney and Mr. Justin Taylor begins beautifully. As previously decided, the short ceremony consists of reciting the vows, exchanging the rings, and the minister's joyous pronouncement that Brian and Justin are now man and . . . man.

The sloppy kiss that follows elicits cheers and applause from their family and friends, punctuated by Debbie's distinct approval, which begins as a polite cackle and evolves into a hearty wolf call. Brian's fingertips comb Justin's silky hair out of his eyes when they finally separate, Justin unable to keep from blushing.

Within fifteen minutes of their stroll down the aisle, the newlyweds walk hand in hand through a rainfall of confetti, leading the migration to the reception room next door. More or less mobbed by hugging well-wishers, each wraps an arm behind the other's waist, standing glued together as they receive an outpouring of love.

Emmett oversees the wait staff's serving of champagne and hors d'oeuvres, signaling the live deejay to start spinning records a few minutes later. Unplanned is the first dance for the grooms and their mothers, but he orchestrates it on the spot, nudging first Jennifer and then Debbie to get out there with their sons.

When Justin makes it back into Brian's arms, he knows as well as he knows his own name the first thing Brian will whisper in his ear.

"I need to fuck you. You look really hot."

Well, fifty percent of it, anyway! "This is our wedding reception, Brian. We're the guests of honor."

"So?"

"Point taken."

Brian waits until several couples and small groups start to fill the parquet dance floor before he hauls his husband off to the nearest men's room, their partying guests tactfully feigning ignorance of their disappearance.

Only Missy sees fit to state the obvious. She looks up at Daphne, wide-eyed and concerned. "Where my daddies went?"

"Daddies?" Daphne stalls for time, scrambling to come up with something. "They, um, have to get more ice for the drinks."

Michael groans and rolls his eyes at her. "Ice?!" he mouths, laughing harder than anyone else within earshot.

Daphne shrugs, raising her arms outward. "She caught me off guard!"

\--------------------

"You brought lube to our wedding?!"

"I was horny when we were leaving the house." Brian drops the travel-size bottle back into his pocket after he spreads a generous glob between Justin's cheeks, pinning him face-first against the bathroom wall in the appropriately named Rainbow Gardens Wedding and Reception Hall.

Touting itself as hosting many a diverse union in the Southern Hills area, they make sure to christen it with their own special brand of diversity. With suit pants lowered just below their hips, Brian's palms cover the back of Justin's hands on the wall above their heads, the silver wedding bands on their left ring fingers tapping together over and over again.

\--------------------

"Brian, Missy's school is on line two."

"Thanks, Cynthia." Brian sets the latest contraption he's supposed to be selling down on his desk, frowning at it. "Can you get ahold of these people and find out what the fuck this thing does?" He presses line two. "Brian Kinney."

"Hello, Mr. Kinney," the secretary at Southern Hills Elementary School starts. "Neither of Melissa's parents was available, and I see you're listed as-"

"Justin and Daphne are out of town. Is Missy all right?"

"Well, she's gotten into some trouble on the playground again. Mrs. Connelly sent her to the principal's office, and Mr. Samson wants her to take the rest of the day off to calm down. Can you pick her up?"

Brian flips on the speaker phone and paces back and forth in front of his office window. "Are you telling me that my daughter is being suspended from kindergarten? Because of a scuffle on the playground?" He pinches the bridge of his nose. "What did you say your name was? What kind of a school are you running over there?"

"I'm only Mr. Samson's secretary, Mr. Kinney. As for the suspension policy, if you'll refer to the handbook that was mailed out on-"

"Save it. I'm on my way. Tell Missy to sit tight." Disconnecting the call, Brian curses under his breath and grabs his jacket from the hook in the corner. He didn't have anything better to do that afternoon than to speak to the principal of Southern Hills, right? He stops at Cynthia's desk on his way out. "Hold the fort down. Missy's in troub-"

"I heard. The speaker phone's pretty loud." Cynthia flicks a puff of lint from his shirt, sending him off into the wilds of elementary education. "Don't say something you'll regret later."

\--------------------

"I'm Brian Kinney. I was called to come and get Melissa Taylor."

"Dad!" Missy jumps off the bench where she's sat stewing for the last twenty minutes as soon as she sees Brian walk into her school's office. "It wasn't my fault! David and Bobby were calling you and Daddy faggots again, and I'm just so tired of it. They had it coming! I can't help it if they're wimps!"

"Whoa! Slow down. What happened?" Brian bends to hug Missy just as Mr. Samson appears in front of them.

"Mr. Kinney? If you and Melissa will come in please." The principal ushers them into his private quarters and gestures to the chairs facing his desk. "I'm sorry to involve you in this matter, but Melissa's natural parents couldn't be reached, and I guess you are . . .?"

"I married her father two years ago. I'm her other father. What's going on, Mr. Samson?"

Settling into his desk chair, he gets right to the point. "I'm afraid we can't tolerate physical violence of any kind on this campus. When Melissa resorted to kicking and punching two other students on the playground, we had to step in and take action. I hope you understand." Mr. Samson glares at Missy before he continues. "I think if she goes home today, we can resume again tomorrow with a clean slate. Assuming she understands that she can't-"

"Stand up for herself? Defend her fathers to name-calling classmates?" Hearing Cynthia's warning in his head, Brian stops himself right there.

"Well, you have to admit, having two fathers is . . . rare. Most children don't understand. The boys involved were only . . ."

"Repeating the hateful expressions they've learned at home? Harassing my daughter unnecessarily?" Brian stands up and helps Missy out of the adult-sized chair she'd sunk into. "I'll take Missy home now, Mr. Samson. Justin, Daphne, and I will decide if she'll be returning to your . . . campus," he goes with for the sake of Missy's five-year-old ears.

Mr. Samson takes a deep breath and rises also. "Melissa's a brilliant student, Mr. Kinney. We'd hate to lose her. I didn't mean to suggest that we can't try to curb the . . . uh . . ."

"Homophobic taunting that spills from the mouths of children these days? We'll be in touch." Brian holds Missy's hand and leads her out of Mr. Samson's office, but not before she shoots her principal a look that can only come from a child who's loved, nurtured, and understood at home.

\--------------------

"So how much trouble am I in?" Missy looks at Brian while he leans into the passenger side of his Vette and buckles the seat belt across her lap.

"Did you try to talk to them first?"

"Yeah! I've explained it to them lots of times, just like you and Daddy told me to. They just wouldn't shut up! Bobby Miller is so gross. I hate him!"

Suppressing a prideful smile, Brian walks around to the driver's side and gets in. "I think we should go visit Aunt Molly. What time is it?"

Missy studies the Hannah Montana wristwatch her parents bought her three months earlier when she'd learned how to tell time. "It's two-thirty. Are you gonna tell Mommy and Daddy?" Kicking her legs idly, she twists a lock of hair around her finger.

"Sure, we have to tell them. You know it's never okay to kick and punch. But you're not in trouble for refusing to be talked to like that or for defending our family."

"I'm hungry, Dad."

"I'm kind of hungry, too. I bet Grandma Jen has something good for us to eat."

\--------------------

Fifteen-year-old Molly Taylor peeks out of her bedroom window when she hears Brian's car pull into the driveway. "I'll call you back later, Allie," she tells her friend on the phone. "My brother-in-law and my niece are here."

"Hey, Mollusk. How's it going?" Brian gives Molly a peck on the forehead when she opens the door. "Missy and I thought we'd come over to say hi. Mother Taylor home?"

"Not yet. She had to show a house at two. Are Justin and Daphne still in New York?"

"Yeah. They'll be back tonight." Brian catches Missy when she tries to make a mad dash into the den where the video games are, telling her they're all going to sit in the living room and talk. He gets comfortable in the corner chair while she climbs onto the sofa next to Molly. "Daphne decided to stay here at Pitt Med, but they said Columbia's tour was really cool."

"That's good." Molly smooths Missy's hair back away from her face and starts to weave it into a braid. "Mom's been freaking out about you guys moving to New York if Daphne chose Columbia."

Brian laughs. "She's probably worrying herself silly." Then he nods at his daughter. "So Missy ran into a problem at school today. Why don't you tell Aunt Molly what happened, Missy?"

"These icky boys in my class. They tease me all the time. I hate 'em!"

"Icky boys?" Molly takes the barrette out of her own hair and clips it on the end of Missy's braid. "What do they tease you about?"

"Daddy and Dad." Missy folds her arms across her chest with a loud huff.

"Oh, that kind of teasing." Molly glances at Brian, beginning to understand why he brought Missy over to see her. Then she holds Missy's hand. "The boys used to tease me, too. I think I was in fifth grade. Even some of the girls did it. I didn't like it either."

Missy peers up at her aunt. "Did you have a daddy and a dad, too?"

"No. But your daddy is my brother, remember? When the kids in my class found out Justin was gay, some of them said mean things to me."

"Did you kick them?"

Molly looks back at Brian in mock horror, watching him shake his head up and down and try not to smile. "Missy, you can't kick them! You have to talk to them."

"Yeah, after I punched them, I shoulda left them there crying. Can I see my braid now?"

Reaching for her purse on the coffee table, Molly gets a little mirror out and gives it to Missy. "I bet you got in trouble with your teacher for physical violence. Schools don't like that very much."

"They called Dad. I had to go home."

Molly hugs Missy's shoulders. "The next time you get teased, tell the teacher which kids are doing it. Usually, they'll get in trouble for using slurs."

"Slurs?"

"The bad words. Like faggot. The boys in my class got extra homework for saying that word."

Extra homework for the icky boys? Missy's eyes light up. "Grandma!" she yells when Jennifer comes through the door. "Aunt Molly braided my hair!"

"Hi, honey!" Jennifer rushes over and picks her up, squeezing her tightly. "I'm so happy you're here." Putting her down again, she smiles at her son-in-law. "Hey, you!"

"Sell the house?" Brian stands up to give Jennifer a kiss.

"I think so. They said they liked it a lot. You two are staying for dinner, right?"

"Yeah!" Missy shouts. "Me and Dad are really hungry!"

"Dad and I," Brian corrects her. "We need to get to the airport by seven to pick up Justin and Daphne, but I guess we can stay and eat if you want us to."

"Can you make us macaroni and cheese, Grandma?" Missy hops around on one foot. "Pleeease?"

"I sure can, sweetie." Jennifer looks up at Brian, her features fraught with unease. "If Daphne transfers to Columbia Med School, will all of you be moving to New York?"

Brian grins and pats her arm. "Don't worry. Daph said she's staying here at Pitt Med. She just wanted to take Columbia's tour, and Justin went with her so he could check in with the New York galleries that do business with him."

"Thank God Molly and I don't have to relocate!" Jennifer exhales in relief. "Just let me change, then I'll start dinner."

\--------------------

"Hey! How was your flight?" Brian takes Daphne's carry-on from Justin's arm and leaves him with just his own messenger bag, pulling his husband in for some much needed close contact.

"It was really good!" Daphne laughs, refreshed from her evening nap.

"That's because you slept with your head on my shoulder the whole way." Justin grins up at Brian. "I missed you. Forty-eight hours has never felt like such an eternity."

Daphne hugs Missy and then searches in her purse for her lip gloss and a stick of gum while Brian and Justin get reacquainted. They still haven't finished after she coats her lips and discards the gum wrapper in the nearest trash can. "Come on, you guys!"

Hoisting Missy up into his arms, Justin kisses her nose. "It's getting pretty late for you to be out. It's a school night."

Brian plants a quick kiss on Daphne's cheek and throws his arm around Justin's shoulders as they head down to baggage claim. "Maybe not."

"What?" Justin and Daphne ask at the same time, both of them skewing confused looks at Brian.

\--------------------

"Mrs. Connelly's a very good teacher. We need to keep that in mind." Justin rubs his forehead in the passenger side of his Explorer while Brian changes lanes on the freeway. Exhausted after his whirlwind two-day trip, he tries to think with a clear head on the way home from the airport.

Daphne looks at her daughter strapped in beside her in the backseat. "Missy likes her, but she does complain about those boys all the time."

Growing increasingly drowsy, Missy listens to her parents discuss the day's events, not daring to interrupt them. She doesn't really want to change schools, but it's not her decision to make.

Brian smiles openly when he glimpses into the rearview mirror and finds that Missy's nodded off to sleep, no longer needing to stifle his pride in her bravery. "Molly made a big impression on her. Missy will probably think twice before she beats up those little brats again."

Justin turns around and takes stock of his feisty daughter, ringlets twisting down the sides of her face in slumber. "I had her reading before she went to kindergarten, but Mrs. Connelly has gotten her into the third grade reader. We'll keep her at Southern Hills for now. We can always reconsider if the situation gets worse." Grinning at Daphne, Justin sees equal parts of her and himself in Missy, yet he's in awe of her individuality. "Remember when we used to sit for hours with our hands on your stomach, just waiting for her to kick?"

Daphne laughs. "We were so young. We had no clue what we were in for."

"She knows she's loved. We must be doing something right." Brian pulls into their garage and turns the car off.

"It's easy." Justin feels the moisture pooling in his eyes. "We happened to get the best little girl in the world."

 

THE END


End file.
